The Fifth Alice
by kuroiyuki20899
Summary: A Sequel to Alice Human Sacrifice: Gumi, Vy2 and Gakupo never saw it coming as they ended up being brought into the strange world of wonderland by an unexpected mistake. Sadly, wonderland wasn't as friendly as the tale tells and so the three must survive their cruel fate or they'll get stuck inside wonderland forever, just like the other five did. Warning: contains character death
1. Prologue

**I know the song is more than ten years old, but I think it's still alive and well and that's why I tried to write a story about it. This story is already halfly written and so it'll be updated weekly. I hope you enjoy reading it.**

 **This may contain some horror elements in the next upcoming chapters.**

 **Disclaimer** **: I do not own the original story or the Vocaloids.**

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Prologue

Once, there was a dream.

A dream so small that it could vanish any time if something wasn't done.

The small dream feared that, and thought endlessly of a way to prevent its fate.

After a lot of thinking, the dream decided to bring something into its world,

It decided to bring human sacrifices.

That way, they'd protect it from vanishing and play the main roles in its play.

It brought the first one, called her the first Alice, and left her to choose what part she wanted to play.

That Alice chose to play the role of the bloody red knight, as she started killing everyone that came across her path.

After trapping the first Alice in a never ending killing streak, the dream felt that it still needed more.

So it brought another Alice.

The second Alice was a young man. The man had a beautiful singing voice, but he used that to madden the people of wonderland and create uncontrollable chaos.

Though it saw that, the dream did nothing to stop the young man as it knew that he'd grow mad himself one day.

And he did, making himself take the role of the mad man that always served tea in the rose forest.

The dream brought in another Alice after some time. That Alice was a teenage girl and she was too charming for her own good. Her round blue eyes and long teal hair made her the wonderland's little idol. Using that, the girl made her own country that was named after the color of her hair.

How did the dream get its hands on such a girl, you ask? Simple. It made her obsessed by a distorted dream: the girl didn't want to lose to death. That way, the dream made sure that she'd take the rule of the queen and rule her own kingdom forever.

The forth Alice, was, or were, very special. That is since the title was given to two little curious twins. Those twins, never did bad stuff like that previous ones did. They just explored the vast wonderland all time. That made it difficult for the dream to keep them, but seeing how strongly they wished to explore the wonderland, the dream took advantage of that: It trapped the two in a never-ending loop of repeated exploring.

You may think that the story ends here. But allow me to correct you; the biggest part of the story BEGINS here, and it ends it as the dream took a huge risk afterwards.

That risk was...


	2. Chapter 1: Unexpected Mistake

**The real story begins here. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer** **: I do not own the original story or the Vocaloid.**

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In the one of the narrow streets in Japan, a pink haired guy holding a game console walked silently. He was replaying his favorite game since the gaming-market no longer held games that interested him.

The game was so appealing and addictive to him that he didn't notice a certain apple-haired girl sneaking on him from behind.

"Yu-chan~!" Gumi, who was the culprit behind almost planting the guy's face to the ground, spoke in a loud voice.

"Gumi... how many time did I tell you not to attack me from behind?" Yuma said, his face not having any expression, but you could hear that he wasn't too happy as he spoke.

"Attack? Even your vocabulary got infected by games! That was hardly a push!" Gumi said grinning.

Yuma sighed. "You could've just said hello normally."

"That alone wouldn't get you out of your little world!" Gumi replied referring to him being too absorbed in his game. "Come on! We're gonna be late if you continue walking like a turtle!"

The cheerful girl took the hand of the tired-looking guy and dashed in the street.

Both continued running then stopped when they saw the third member of the group.

A tall guy, both in hair and figure, stood near the school gates and smiled when caught sight of the two. "Was he playing games again?" He asked Gumi despite seeing the game console in Yuma's hands.

"Yup. That what made him this slow, two steps per minute, I tell you." Gumi said and looked at Yuma; he pretended not to notice her stares.

"I suggest you hide that, Yuma. I'm sure that you don't want to get it confiscated again." The tall guy, or Gakupo spoke to Yuma and looked at his hands.

With no words, Yuma placed his game console in his bag.

The three then went to their classes: Gumi and Yuma to one while Gakupo went to another.

In class, Gumi was active like she always was, and volunteered to go to write on the board from time to time. Yuma on the other hand, spent most of his time staring at the window bored. However, he was clever enough to answer any question he was asked despite not paying too much attention. To sum it up, Gumi was an energetic girl while Yuma was closer to the cool type of guy.

In the other class, Gakupo was having another time of his own as he was snoring loudly in the corner. His teacher, after being fed of always waking him up, left him to be.

"Wait long?" Gumi asked the two guys as she was the last one to arrive after the break-bell ran.

"You have the speed of a turtle." Yuma replied paying her back.

Gumi took a couple of seconds to get that through, then her usual grin returned to her. "Sorry. I was just helping Kiyoteru sensei."

They then began walking. "Helping him with what?" Gakupo asked then took a bite from his sandwich.

"I helped him with printing an announcement of the trip."

"Oho." Gakupo smirked. "How lucky us to have you. We always get to know stuff straight out of the teachers' room first."

"If this didn't happen before the break, I think all of our class would've already known." Yuma said teasing Gumi.

Gumi scratched the back of her head. "I'm not that much of a secret-leaker-"

"You are." The Guys interrupted her.

That caused Gumi to drop her head.

"So where are we going?" Gakupo started again.

For some reason, Gumi knotted her eyebrows when she heard that. "We going to the public library..."

Yuma and Gakupo looked at each other. They needed no more words to know why Gumi looked that upset. "Doesn't sound like a bad trip to me..." Yuma said quietly.

"I think so as well." Gakupo agreed.

Gumi sighed deeply. "I don't know how you can endure reading those thick books... for me, it's torture."

"But you like school books, Gumi." Gakupo pointed out.

"School books are not boring for three reasons. One, most of them have pictures. Two, the spacing between words is reasonable. Three, they can be read and discussed while in libraries they don't even let us BREATH if it makes a sound!" Gumi complained making Yuma and Gakupo realize that the first two reasons were just added so she switches attention of how she hated to stay silent.

The three then reached their usual place and sat down to continue chatting.

Gumi had many female friends. Still, she preferred spending most of her with Yuma and Gakupo as she felt most comfortable around them. She also loved speaking about things other than love, since most girls talked about nothing but that topic.

To tell the truth, her biggest reason for staying around Yuma and Gakupo was Yuma himself, as she had some _special_ feelings for him.

Gakupo knew that, he also knew that Yuma feelings were similar to Gumi's. Still he did not interfere since not much time passed after they started liking each other. He also believed that a true man wouldn't need help in something as simplistic as love.

Yuma on the other side, didn't believe love was so simple. Especially when you fall in love with someone as dense as Gumi.

Still, he didn't mind her ignorance. Instead, he loved that part too, and he liked how much color she adds into his life.

The only thing that irritated him was how she usually tends to steal his game console and run away with it to gain his attention.

Three days later, Gumi was dragging her feet as she headed with her class to the public library. Her two friends found that amusing and teased the poor girl from time to time as they reminded her of the time they'll spend there and recommend books to her. Gumi didn't take any of that well and did her best to ignore the two silly guys.

Yuma and Gakupo weren't that much of jerks as they stopped after seeing how upset Gumi was. They both knew well how bad it feels to be forced to do something you hate. (For example: taking Yuma's game console or stop Gakupo from talking about Samurai.)

The group of classes got inside the library. It was huge and enough for that much of students to stay at the same time. The teachers asked the students to quietly choose whatever book they wanted and read it to the end. Students then were tasked to write a summary of what they read and submit it to the teachers.

It was a small task. But for Gumi, it was as asking her to fully clean that place. To run away, she attempted to jump out of the window, sneak under the table and go in the bathroom and never go out. Of course, teachers weren't that stupid and caught Gumi every time, much to Yuma's and Gakupo's amusement. Taking a final warning, Gumi stomped her feet and headed to one of the huge bookstands.

 _"I'll just read the first and last twenty pages and get on with this."_ She thought as she stared at the books. Then, she saw _that_.

And she basically changed her mind afterwards.

Returning to the table Yuma and Gakupo were sitting at, Gumi sat down with a huge grin on her face, her eyes glued to the book she was reading.

The guys looked at each other. The next second they looked at the book Gumi was reading.

 _"English...?"_ Gakupo thought frowning since he wasn't too good in reading the foreign language.

 _"Alice... Human Sacrifice...?"_ Yuma read carefully. _"An Alice in wonderland story? Sounds like a darker version to me."_ The pink haired guy thought silently.

Not noticing their stares, Gumi continued on reading the book and enjoying her time. After seeing her like that, her two friends smiled to theirselves and resumed reading.

Despite being mostly interested in games, Yuma didn't mind expanding his knowledge from time to time and so he chose various books for him to read. Other than reading and playing video games, Yuma loved writing poems. Love poems that is. And he was good at it as his poems charmed every single soul that read them, including Gumi, who loved that part about Yuma too.

Gakupo on the other hand, wasn't that much of a reader. Still, the dozen of books that he had in front of him would fool you to think otherwise. But, one look at those book and you'd get why Gakupo was so absorbed in his reading: they were about Samurai.

The purple haired guy knew almost everything about the Samurai era and the great warriors that filled the Japanese lands once. Being born into a traditional household affected in his personality and love for Samurai as his father was the one who introduced it to him. His tall purple locks tied up in a high ponytail were somehow inspired of the modern Samurai look. He also knew how to use real swords so he wasn't all talk.

Back to Gumi, who finished her book after a couple of hours, much to her friends' surprise.

With a great smile, Gumi closed her book and took out a paper to complete her task. After doing that, she went to Kiyoteru-sensei and told him the good news.

Nothing could describe the look of shock on the poor girl's face as she learnt that she had to read more than one book. So let's say that she attempted to run away a few times again before she was dragged back.

"But really, I never did think that you'd take one book seriously. It surprised me, Gumi." Gakupo said trying to cheer the tried Gumi up.

"If she wanted, Gumi would take anything seriously. Don't underestimate her." Yuma praised Gumi without looking away from his game console; it wasn't because he was focusing on the game, he just felt a little embarrassed after hearing himself and thus he didn't want to see Gumi smirking.

She wasn't, she was smiling feeling happy by the praise. "I've loved Alice's story and her wonderland from childhood, and the book I read today was a really nice remake!"

"Remake?" Yuma said. _"I was right."_

"Yup! In that story, instead of only bringing one Alice, the world of wonderland brought several people and gave the name "Alice" to each one." Gumi explained happily.

"Oho. What happens next?" Gakupo asked feeling interested. Yuma was too, but he already knew that Gumi was going to finish the story even if nobody asked her to.

"Each one of those people then take a role in the story! Remember how there was a Mad-Hatter and a Queen? The book says that those were previous "Alice"s that came from another world!"

"An interesting theory..." Yuma muttered.

"All of the four, or five people had traits that fitted their given roles. For example, the red knight did nothing but slaying innocent souls the time her feet touched the lands of wonderland. The Mad Hatter was a singer that used his voice to drive people mad before going mad himself. And the Queen was so beautiful that the people of wonderland made a country for her and forgave her for every sin she did as a result."

"I thought that the Queen was extremely ugly...?" Gakupo asked and placed a hand under his chin.

"In the book she isn't. It makes sense for me more this way. I mean, I always wondered why would anyone obey a cruel short and ugly queen from the first place? If she was beautiful and innocent looking, it would've worked better, I always believed."

Hearing Gumi speak, Gakupo gave an understating nod while Yuma smiled to himself seeing how seriously Gumi took that children's book. Then another thought came across his mind. "You said that they were four then corrected yourself..." he pointed out.

Gumi gave him a grin. _"He was paying attention..."_ she thought. "The fourth Alice were actually two twins, that's why."

"Twins? What role do they play?" Gakupo asked.

"The little rabbits." Gumi answered.

By the way, you'd wonder why a traditional type of guy like Gakupo knows about the story of Alice. The answer to that lies in Gumi herself, as she was the one that nagged him to read the book several years ago when they were still in elementary school. Gumi told Gakupo that it'd be good for him since he wasn't too much good with English. Truthfully, she only wanted to share the story with her stubborn friend.

Also, Gumi and Gakupo knew each other from elementary school. Yuma joined the group several years later as they all entered high school. He was first introduced by Gakupo as one day he found him sitting in his favorite spot in school playing video games. The two guys then spoke from time to time before becoming friends. When Gakupo told Gumi about Yuma, he didn't think that it'd end up with them being attracted to each other. But it was for the good so he left it that way.

"What about the other roles?" Yuma asked as he too, read the story after Gumi asked him to. But for him, it was pure amusement since he first read it at his first year of high school.

"The book says nothing about the others. Roles like the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar are not mentioned. But you know what's exciting? The story ends with the question: "Who's the next Alice?" "

"So it has a sequel?" Yuma asked.

"I think so. But I didn't find it anywhere in that huge place. Nor I found it online. So I concluded that it wasn't released yet." Gumi said then sighed. "Then comes Kiyoteru-sensei and tells me to read another freaking book..."

Yuma and Gakupo smiled. _"Tough."_ They thought.

"..." Yuma placed his game console in his bag. "Last question, those people who were brought in, were they trapped there forever or...?"

Gumi blinked at the unexpected question. "Well... the book didn't say anything about that... but I think that they won't get out."

"Oh." Gakupo said briefly.

"I think that all the first three deserve it, since they were evil. But the twins are the ones that make me sad as I think about it... they did nothing bad on their end that's why." Gumi spoke and looked at the ground.

"What did you read, Yuma?" Gumi asked drifting away from the topic as she didn't like talking about sad stuff.

Yuma looked up. "I read a book about cooking, another was a collection of poetry and the last one was a novel." He said counting each on his hand.

"As expected of our undiscovered genius." Gakupo joked and gently elbowed Yuma.

Of course, "Gentle" is not a word to describe anything coming from the tall and muscular high-schooler. That is why Yuma struggled a bit not to fall backwards from the hit.

"You guys should learn to use your hands properly." Yuma muttered and earned an oblivious look from his two friends.

They then began laughing.

"No one will ask me what I rea-" Gakupo spoke but was shut up fast.

"You read about Samurai." Yuma and Gumi said at the same time.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Gakupo asked and rubbed his nose. "Still! You won't believe what I learned today about the great Samurai! I discovered-"

... And so begins another history lesson from Gakupo.

After ten minutes of endless stories, Gakupo finally finished with a huge manly smile. Yuma and Gumi smiled at each other as it came to an end. They didn't hate it since they were used to Gakupo's rambling but I can't say that their heads didn't hurt that day.

After some time, they finally reached the street they all lived in, and when I say all, I mean that they really lived close to each other and that helped them in forming a strong friendship bond. A few meters were the ones that separated the three houses of those three friends.

The two guys were about to leave before Gumi started speaking again. "Guys... I was thinking..."

The serious look on Gumi's face made the two stand in place. "The people in the book came from another world, the human world. So, if I wanted to go to wonderland as well, will you guys go with me?"

The guys looked at each other. They both knew that Gumi had a weird side to her but they never saw the question coming.

"If you wanted to... then I guess...?" Gakupo spoke slowly, as he wasn't sure of what to say.

Yuma had a more cool response as he asked if it was close to an RPG world, he'd happily dive in.

"I don't think that you get to kill monsters in there, Yuma. You don't want to end like the Red Knight now do you?" Gumi pointed out making Yuma looked disappointed.

"Still, if you go I will go too." He then briefly said.

"Why?" Gumi countered.

"Does it need to have a reason?" The pink haired guy spoke making Gumi get the hint.

Then they both smiled and looked away from each other.

Gakupo lifted an eyebrow. _"This sometime really irritates me."_ He concluded to himself.

"Honestly, I wouldn't prefer to go there since we'll all get stuck inside. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be left in a world with talking mice and bunnies for the rest of my life." Gakupo said making his point clear.

"Not to mention that it's a forest, so staying alive will be difficult." Yuma spoke logically.

"Admit it both of you, you just don't want to go in world that has no video games or Samurai." Gumi said with a smirk.

"It's not true!" "You're wrong!" The two guys said at the same time as Gumi exposed them.

The rest was Gumi laughing at the slightly blushing two.

"-But really, it made me happy to know that you two were willing to go with me." Gumi said going back to serious. "Thanks."

Yuma and Gakupo smiled. "You're welcome." The purple-haired Samurai said.

"Anytime." Replied the legendary gamer, VY2.

Gumi released a huge smiled before waving for her friends and going inside her house.

That day, Gumi kept thinking about the book and if she really got inside with Yuma and Gakupo. She didn't stop thinking about it till the time she went to bed.

Her smile never faded off her lips as she closed her eyes and went into a deep deep sleep...

"Apple-pie..."

Those were Gumi's sleep-words as she drooled on her pillow.

After a few shifts, Gumi felt strange. The thing under her didn't feel like her bed. That is why she allowed her hands to travel on the mysterious object while her eyes were still closed.

You know when you're half awake half asleep? That was the state Gumi was in that time. So she understood what was she touching and defined it as a face.

 _"Feels like a person... dad?"_ She wondered as she felt that the person was flat, so it had to be a guy. Then she touched hair, which her father barley had anything left of it.

She wanted to jump off the unknown guy, but she was too tired to do so. Still, she changed her mind the time her hand touched a piece of clothing on the guy's head.

 _"A... hat...?"_ She thought. _"The only one I know that wears a this kind of hat is..."_

It didn't take her more time to jump away and roll on the ground. "Y-Y-Yuma?!"

Placing a hand on her mouth, Gumi began looking around as Yuma began to wake up.

 _"I DID'NT EVEN CONFESS YET!"_ Gumi screamed in her head thinking that they did _that._ But then her attention switches to her surroundings, which weren't normal at all.

She was in a forest full of tall trees with strange shapes. Over-sized colorful mushrooms were everywhere and the land seemed to have glowing beads in its soil.

The whole place seemed like it was out of a magical world.

Still, Gumi thought that she saw that somewhere.

"Game... over..." Yuma said before slowly getting up. "Gumi...?" He unsurely spoke before his pupils widened.

"What kind of dream you were having?" She asked out of the blue.

"I was fighting a huge mammoth boss before it fell on me and I died..." Yuma said making Gumi narrow her eyes as the word "Mammoth" was the last word she'd use to describe her weight. "More importantly... were are we?" He asked making Gumi focus again.

"I don't know." Gumi admitted. "Are we dreaming? If so, which one of us is the one having this dream?" She asked making Yuma think.

"Let's just... do what they do in movies and pinch each other. 'Kay?" He suggested and Gumi replied with a nod.

"One, two...-ouch!" Gumi rubbed her cheek after feeling the pain. She then gave her surroundings another look. "Nothing changed." She pointed out.

"So it doesn't work after all?" Yuma mumbled thinking that using a pinch to wake up from a dream was only movie talk.

"Yuma! A pinch must be weak!" Gumi said suddenly. "Grit your teeth! We must use punches instead!"

Hearing the green-haired girl, Yuma blinked. "Are you sure that-"

"I'll be fine!" She said in a firm voice. "Prepare your fist!"

Not knowing what else to do, Yuma did as Gumi asked him and formed a fist in his hand. He then prepared himself to lightly punch Gumi, since he knew that she wasn't the girl to pass out from a punch. Gumi did so too and she prepared herself to give him a good punch as a payback for him comparing her weight to a mammoth.

Both of them stopped when they heard snoring somewhere near.

They knew that sound well. It was _him_ for sure.

"Gakupo...?" Gumi said as she and Yuma approached the sleeping guy.

"I'm the... greatest Samurai..." Gakupo mumbled in his sleep and grinned widely.

"Not you're not." Yuma said bored then kicked Gakupo in the waist.

"Yuma!" Gumi hissed at him.

"Don't worry. For his body, this was like a mosquito bite." Yuma defended.

"You know..." Gakupo began as he started to come to his senses. "Even mosquito bites hurts..."

"Sorry." Yuma said shrugging.

Gakupo wanted to say something more, but he stopped when noticed how bizarre the place he was in was. "What is this? It's like we're in a fairy forest." He said after some time. "Anyone knows how did we get here?"

"No. At least, we didn't even know whose dream this belongs to." Gumi said and sighed.

"Dream?" Gakupo unconsciously said.

"What we see cannot be real." Yuma explained. "I've never in my life saw a forest like this."

"And even if this place existed, it's unimaginable for the three of us to reach here after going to out beds yesterday." Gumi added. "The last memory you have is going back to you bed, isn't that right, Yuma?" He nodded. "Gakupo?" That one closed his eyes.

"..." no one said anything for a while after that.

"What do you think we should do now?" Gakupo asked.

"I think we should explore around a little bit. Maybe we can find someone to ask then."

Yuma's idea was a good solution, but Gumi had another thing in mind. "Let's try jumping off this cliff. If we fly up again, then we're in a dream." She said with a grin.

"And if we all die then we know we're not." Her grin vanished.

"Come on! Have more balls Gakupo! In a place looking like this, wouldn't miracles happen?!" Gumi yelled feeling a little embarrassed.

"Don't tell me to have balls!" Gakupo yelled back sounding offended. "I'm using my mind! You're not!"

Yuma placed a hand on the taller guy's shoulder. "Leave her, she's just too much into the book she read yesterday-"

Yuma stopped abruptly. The place... it did indeed look like the cover of the book that Gumi read. There were a few differences, but the similarity was huge.

Gakupo gave Yuma a look. They were thinking about the same thing. Gumi looked at the ground as she was slightly having another thoughts.

"Let's... move around a bit..." Gakupo said awkwardly as he thought he was being stupid for a moment. Yuma thought so too. Gumi was too nervous, unlike her usually cheerful self.

The three friends didn't say anything as they moved down from rock to rock and stepped on the surprisingly hard mushrooms all the way. They walked and walked. However, no soul could be seen near.

"You think this place is uninhabited?" Gakupo finally ended the silence.

"I just hope that no bear comes out for those berries..." Gumi joked with an awkward smile.

"This is not even funny, Gumi." Gakupo lightly scolded and looked around for something sword-like for him to use. Just in case.

"Listen..." Yuma said stopping Gumi from saying anything. "I hear voices..."

Gumi and Gakupo looked at each other before trying to listen for theirselves.

The voices were soft and barely bearable, but they were still there. "Who do you think they are?" One voice that was very child-like spoke.

"I don't know! They're scary!" Another one replied. That too, was high-pitched.

"Could they be new ones?" A third one joined, which wasn't very different from the other two.

Nodding to each other, Yuma, Gumi and Gakupo decided to approach the source of voices quietly.

For some time, none of the three could find where the voices came from despite looking so hardly. Then, Yuma points for the two to stop then tells them to look under their feet.

There, a group of three small mice in clothing sat.

Gumi placed a hand on her mouth while Gakupo rubbed his eyes several times as one of the mice spoke. "What do you think we should do?" It asked.

"I believe we should report that to the queen." Another mouse replied.

"Yeah! To the queen!" The third mouse added before the three of them took off and vanished in the bushes.

"..."

"This is a nightmare! Not a dream!" Gakupo started out of nowhere.

"Calm down, Gack." Yuma said expressionless, despite feeling confused and disturbed as well.

"You saw that thing! The mouse was talking-" Gakupo yelled but then he stopped when he saw Gumi's face.

The girl's facial expression showed fear and confusion, added to a clear sense of guilt as well. Gakupo knew that he made a mistake. "I'm sure we all imagined that!" He tried to reassure his childhood friend. "We should look around more. I think that we'll find that those mice were real people in a cosplay!" He then laughed awkwardly.

That didn't help Gumi much. "Gumi, you alright?" Yuma asked placing a hand on Gumi's shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, Gumi regained her composure. "I'm ok. Let's move on." She said trying her best to sound normal.

Yuma gave her a smile before taking her hand and going deeper into the woods. Gakupo sighed and went after them.

The three high-schoolers walked for a while in the woods. Eventually, the shape of the place began to change as the ground and the trees began filling with roses instead of weird-looking mushrooms.

Despite the change, all of them couldn't help it but feel helpless as they never saw a person in those endless woods.

That all changed when their ears caught the sound of someone humming nearby.

"This doesn't sound like mice..." Gakupo muttered to himself, but he was loud enough for the other two to hear.

"Let's sneak. If it wasn't a person, we turn and leave." Yuma decided again.

With his friends nodding, Yuma went in first. Gumi went after him while Gakupo stayed in the back and held a huge stick to protect the other two from unexpected danger.

"Finally! It's a person!" Gakupo said first despite being the last to arrive.

Yuma didn't say anything seeing how suspicious the guy looked. He was dressed in clothes that looked like a cosplay for an anime character that lived in the 19th century: His shirt was white and he wore and oversized blue coat that covered his hands completely. He had blue hair and he placed a tall hat on his head that was some shades darker than his hair but still matched the color of his coat and pants. His white boots were hardly in place while his blue muffler trailed behind him wherever he went. That didn't bother Yuma much as much as the rose that was placed on the guy's right eye did. The rose seemed to be white but then you'd see that it was colored with some red as well. Yuma never saw that type of roses before. And from the red marks that was on the mysterious man's right cheek, Yuma hoped that it was just a decoration.

Gumi wasn't too focused on all that as she was stuck on another thing.

The guy's hair was blue.

Just like it was written there.

"Excuse me..." Gumi said appearing from the bushes with no warning. Yuma and Gakupo's hearts fell to the ground as they both were getting bad vibes about the man. Still, Gumi rushed without asking them.

It wasn't as Gumi didn't think, she just assumed that the blue-haired man was ok from how lovely his voice sounded and how innocent he looked while fixing some nearby roses.

Sadly, he stopped humming after he heard the female voice behind him and twirled 360 degrees to see who it was.

When he caught glimpse of Gumi, the blue haired man grinned widely. "A guest! A guest!" He said happily. "Welcome welcome~ please do have a seat- Oh we have two more!"

The two guys must've regretted appearing after the blue young man caught glimpse of them.

"Oh dear... I only have one chair... what to do?" The man asked himself out aloud. "I know! I must spilt this chair up! Then we can all sit with no worry!"

Yuma and Gakupo's jaws dropped as the guy literally began hitting the chair to spilt it.

"Is he nuts...?" Gakupo whispered to Yuma. Yuma didn't have any words so he just shrugged.

Again, Gumi wasn't paying attention to all that as she was more concerned with another thing. "Can I ask what's your name?" She spoke and tried to catch the young man's attention.

"Name...?" For a second there, the blue haired guy was silent. "I don't have a name!" He suddenly started again. "But they call me the hatter! Though I've never made a hat in my life~" he sang the last sentence much to Gumi having a terrified face. "I believe it is because I wear this silly hat." He said, his voice becoming deep. "But I don't care! You can call me anything you want!"

Of course, upon hearing the word "Hatter" the guys' hearts dropped for the second time that day. "The name Kaito... does it makes you remember anything...?" Gumi tried again, hoping that she'd get a negative answer.

But she didn't, instead, she made the Hatter's left eye close for a bit before flashing open again; it was as he recalled something he did not wish to recall. "I do believe that someone called me that before..." he said, his voice sounding pained. "But no one ever did then so I threw that name in the basket!" He yelled and made Gumi jump in place. Thought Yuma and Gakupo didn't jump, still, they were having a hard time keeping theirselves composed seeing how odd the guy was. Not to mention how disturbing was the information they were getting.

"Even so!" The Hatter started again. "If you want, you can all me that." He said calmly, before madly lashing out on the chair again.

Gumi stood on her feet again. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Was it real?

Or was it a never ending dream?

If it was, she really wished that it'd end already.


	3. Chapter 2: The Hatter Of Roses

**Thanks for anyone who read my story. And as I always say, if you like this, please leave a review to let me know. Same goes if you hate it.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing owned.**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Hatter Of Roses

With a goofy smile, the Hatter stood in front the newly broken chair. "I apologize. It didn't break the way I wanted it to break..." he slowly said referring to the chair. "But no worries! I have three other chairs to break here! So I get three more tries!" He said pulling more chairs out of the bushes. "Let us hope that these spilt nicely!"

Gakupo's jaw couldn't drop lower. Gumi looked at the blue Hatter curiously while Yuma decided that he'll give the unstable guy some help. "You don't have to break them." He said placing a hand on the Hatter's shoulder. "We'll just sit on them like that."

The young man, who seemed to be once named Kaito, blinked several times before getting what Yuma meant. "What a SMART SOLUTION!" He said beaming with happiness. "You're a brilliant guy! What is your name?"

"Y-Yuma..." even the cool pink-haired guy was disturbed as Kaito began shacking his hand like crazy.

"A great name indeed! I shall write it down now!" The Hatter said before going to the table that stood in the middle of the forest and grabbing a pen to write.

Of course, seeing how Kaito was, no one bothered to tell him that the pen doesn't even write.

"Look. We're glad that we met you but we have to go now. We need to know how to get out of this place." Gakupo said after some time of silently opening his mouth.

For some reason, Kaito looked shocked. "Is it... my fault... that you want to go...?" He spoke slowly as his mood completely changed from happy to sad.

"It's not like that..." Gumi tried to reassure the hurt-looking Hatter.

"Frankly, you're not fine. Something is wrong with your head. And that's why we're leaving." Gakupo's harsh word made Gumi elbow him.

Kaito's mood switched again as he looked offended. "How rude!" He started. "I'm completely fine! My head is fine as well!"

The tone Kaito used would've worked, that is if he didn't choose to sit on a cup and boldly state that.

"..."

"Let's go, Gumi." Gakupo told the green-haired girl as he pulled her away. Yuma turned to leave as well.

"Wait WAIT wait! I can help with the 'get out' plan you're trying to figure out!" Kaito yelled hopping after the three.

Yuma and Gumi both started at Gakupo as he was the first one to sit on the Hatter's table after he heard that.

"What? If it's to never see those mice talking again, then I'd happily endure this maniac." The purple haired guy defended himself.

 _"The mighty Samurai really hated those mice."_ Both Yuma and Gumi thought at the same time while Kaito pouted as he was called a maniac.

"It'd really helps if you share anything with us, thanks." Yuma said sitting on a chair followed by Gumi who checked her chair before sitting on it.

"For starters, what is this place called?" Gumi asked.

"You don't know...?" The Hatter asked titling his head. "Then you must be new faces!" He exploded out of nowhere again. " _And seeing that you have colors can only mean_..."

The last part was more of a whisper to himself. Gakupo and Yuma thought that it was only his way of speaking but Gumi knew that there was something more: after reading too much Alice stories, she was fairly familiar with the Hatter character, not to mention that she actually liked that character the most.

"It's called the wonderland! Why? Because it's FILLED of wonders, idiots!" The Hatter said before beginning to laugh hysterically and hit the table.

The guys had stone looks in their eyes as they looked at Gumi. Seeing that, the girl nervously smiled and silently asked them to stay a little bit more.

"Like you said, we're new here. So can you tell us more about this place?" Gumi started again as the Hatter wiped away his laughing tears.

"I will tell you what I know, however..." the Hatter paused dramatically. "You all must have tea first!"

Gakupo really wanted to face-palm while Gumi laughed lightly. Yuma didn't have an expression.

"Look, We don't have time for tha-!" Gakupo said in a threatening tone.

"Tea!" Kaito didn't sound fazed

"Listen, we're in a hurry so can you-"

"Tea!" The blue haired guy repeated again interrupting Yuma.

"Okay, well drink your tea. Would you then-"

"Tea!" Kaito yelled at Gumi before realizing what she just said. "Oh I'm sorry! I thought that you'd be like those noisy old guys you have with you! Please excuse me."

Hearing that, Gakupo placed a foot on the table and tried to jump and attack Kaito. Yuma and Gumi reacted fast to that and thus they were able to hold the muscled guy in place, but they had a hard time doing that.

The Hatter on the other side, pulled an empty teapot that was on the table and placed it one his head for protection.

After closing his eyes for sometime, Kaito understood that Gakupo didn't want to hit him anymore so he lifted up the teapot and placed it back on the table.

"All of the people that came here told me that my tea tastes delicious." Kaito said ignoring Gakupo's glares. "That is why you don't need to worry! We'll all have a LEGNEDARY tea party that you won't forget for the rest of you lives!"

Despite the Hatter's proud smile, the three teenage friends couldn't help it but feel nervous at the word legendary.

"Now, I will sing you all a nice song as I fill your cups with some tea." The blue haired guy said calmly before going to look for a full teapot between the many empty teapots he hand on the huge table.

Because the two guys listened carefully to Gumi's tale the last day, they were alert enough to yell at Kaito to stop before he could even open his mouth. "Don't sing!" Gakupo yelled at him first.

The Hatter looked shocked. "It's just a song... I won't-"

"Don't you dare sing a tone." Yuma added as he too, went into offense mode.

Kaito didn't look so well. He tried to defend himself but was met with Gakupo's threatening him. "If you insist to sing, then try to do it after I break your jaw with this!"

"Guys! Stop it! You're scaring him!" Gumi finally said noticing how heavy the mood turned.

"But Gumi! You were the one that told us that this guy-"

"I know what I said! But we're not even sure of that fact yet! Besides, you could've asked more nicely instead of threatening him with your stick!" Gumi sounded really angry, so Gakupo felt a little guilty. Yuma too, lowered his clenched fist.

"If you don't w-want me to sing... that I won't..." Kaito spoke unsure as he watched the two friends quarrel. "You can just have some tea and-"

"Why can't you understand?!" Gakupo yelled not being able to contain himself. "We don't have time for your tea! Just tell us what we want and let us leave already! If you don't have anything to say then get the hell out of our way!"

"Gakupo!" Gumi cried out furious.

"Gumi, he's insisting for us to drink the tea too much. Something must be mixed inside." Yuma whispered in Gumi's ear.

"I know but still-!"

She wasn't that oblivious to what may the blue Hatter is planning, still, the way that Gakupo used irritated her a lot. Plus Kaito's scared-out-of-bones face wasn't helping her either.

Was he too much good of an actor or was he simply innocent?

"Please... I'm not anyone suspicious... I don't want to hurt anyone... please... don't lo..."

The last part of his sentence was too quite for Gumi to hear. Still, she could tell that he was having a bad memory again from the way his eye looked and how he placed one hand on the rose that covered his other eye.

Apparently, the two guys did feel something after seeing the young man like that and lowered their hands. "It's okay, no one will hurt you." Gumi said to Kaito as she carefully caressed his back.

Kaito didn't say anything, instead he suddenly grabbed the teapot he had, and threw its contains on one of the rose bushes nearby. That left the three stunned. "Don't worry. My roses always share tea with me! That is the actual secret of why they are so beautiful." He whispered the last part before realizing his mistake. "I just told you one of my secrets..." he said with a shocked look on his face. "But whatever! You seem like good people and that's why I'm sure that you won't leak!" He said happily.

"You won't, right?" Kaito asked sounding serious.

That caused Gakupo to sigh while Yuma and Gumi smiled at each other; Kaito was back to normal. "We won't say anything." Yuma answered.

The Hatter smiled widely. "Good. I will now brew some new tea in front of you. That way, you won't feel suspicious of me anymore. Right?"

Yuma and Gumi nodded while Gakupo blinked not expecting that. They then sat back in their seats and waited for the Hatter to finish preparing some new tea. While Gumi and Gakupo fought with each other, Yuma was more focused on the roses and watched them carefully to see whether they'd die or not from the tea.

He also focused on the random mumbles that came from Kaito's mouth as he prepared his tea. Nothing seemed interesting to him but one sentence and one question.

"If I don't let you all drink tea now, then I'll never be able to get of this place..." Kaito mumbled to himself oblivious for Yuma who listened to every word.

"I wonder if I'll be ever able to finish my endless 99 cups in the first place...?" He asked himself and stopped his hands, before he suddenly slapped himself across the cheek as he tried to kill a mosquito.

For some reason, Yuma didn't feel like those words were like the random rambling that came out of the Hatter's mouth. So he placed in mind that he'd tell Gumi and Gakupo about what he heard later.

"The tea is ready~" All looked at Kaito who brought the three cups to where the teenagers were sitting.

Leaving each others' cheeks, Gumi and Gakupo looked at the cups in front of them. They looked well made, but they weren't feeling safe just yet.

"Drink it first." Yuma told Kaito as he gave him Gumi's cup.

With a pout, Kaito drank the tea up while Yuma filled another cup for Gumi.

"..."

*a little while passes*

"Why isn't he dying?" Gakupo asked after Kaito drank the tea.

"Beats me." Yuma said shrugging.

"I TOLD YOU THAT I'M NOT SOMEONE SUSPICIOUS!" Kaito exploded out of nowhere finally making the two guys finally jump. He then laughed his heart out at their faces.

Gumi just smiled and chuckled a bit before drinking her cup. Yuma followed Gumi while Gakupo sniffed the cup, stared at it and twirled his hand all over the edges.

"Cut it out." Gumi said hitting Gakupo on the head.

That made the purple haired Samurai swallow and drink the tea in one go.

Gumi then teased Gakupo of how much of a "Brave Samurai" he was. Meanwhile, Yuma carefully observed Kaito as he flipped the pen he earlier used to write with, and draw down the number "97". The pen did leave trace making Yuma blink. He also noticed that the Hatter had written their names on the paper as well. And of course, Kaito didn't forget to draw a devil's face next to Gakupo's name as he laughed idiotically.

That made Yuma chuckle.

"Now that we drank your tea, spill things up, hat-boy." Gakupo spoke to Kaito like that despite Kaito looking a few years older than him.

The Hatter didn't seem to care about that. Instead, he was more focused on the word 'spill'. And he thought that only teapots spilled tea when they boil.

"If you want to know more about this land, I think that you should go meet the Green Queen!" Kaito said making Gumi flinch.

That too, was the same that it was in the book.

"Where can we find that Queen?" Yuma asked.

Kaito seemed to look all over the place for a second. "I don't really remember the place but... I'm sure that the Queen will call for you in no time! Rest assured!"

"How the hell she'd know- Oh. The mice." Gakupo found himself mumbling.

"Exactly! She might send one of her mice!" Kaito said not getting what Gakupo meant. "But she might send a rabbit!" He added. "Actually, she might send anything..."

Placing a hand under his chin, Kaito thought of a way to describe what may come. "Well! As long as it is an animal or a person without color, then it works!"

"A person without-"

"More importantly!" The blue haired guy yelled stopping Yuma midway. "Let me give you a HUGE warning!" Said Kaito in a dramatic voice. "And when I say huge, I mean in benefit, that is."

The three felt nervous a little bit. "Please, tell us what you have." Gumi chose her words carefully

"The warning is:...-!" At that time, Gumi could see how much the Hatter liked dramatic pauses. "Whatever you do, don't die."

"..."

"I knew that we shouldn't listen to this guy." Gakupo scoffed before standing up and glaring at Kaito.

"Take it easy Gack. Let's just leave." Yuma told Gakupo seeing how much his friend wanted to smash the table on the Hatter's head.

Gumi sighed. "We didn't even hear him out fully yet. We can stay for a little bit more before stupidly dashing on our own." She suggested.

"Right!" Kaito joined in again. "I really mean what I just said!"

He cried out. That caused the guys to eye him suspiciously. "In this place... you... like... Die but you don't die! But you still DIE!"

Gakupo clenched his fists. "I feel like crying blood for every minute I spend here listening to this scum!

Gumi smiled awkwardly. "Do you have another thing to tell us, Kaito?" The green-haired girl asked. "If possible, something we can understand more as newcomers."

Kaito remained silent for sometime afterwards. Gumi didn't get why but Yuma knew that it was because Gumi called the guy by his name. "Okay..." Kaito began. "If you see red, run."

"Red?" Yuma repeated. "What kind of red?"

"Any kind of it! Red grass! Red clothing! Red steps! If you see any of that, JUST RUN!" The Hatter said in a slightly terrified voice.

"Another damn hallucination..." Gakupo hissed to himself.

"We'll keep that in mind." Gumi said with a smile. "Anything else?"

Kaito thought for a bit. "Don't get separated from each other. It can be hilariously dangerous around here." He said making the three flinch.

"Thank you for your help. We now just need to walk around a little bit before the queen sends someone to us, right?"

"Something." Kaito corrected her. "And yes! Something will surely come! Are you all leaving?" He asked maintaining a disappointed look on his face.

"Please say yes." Gakupo begged Gumi.

The girl sighed. "I'm sorry but yes, we'll be leaving now. Thanks again for all of your help."

Gakupo's face had indescribable happiness while Yuma sighed in relief. "I see..." the Hatter looked sad. "But please, do come again! Next time! I'll leave some of my ice-cream so we can all share it together!" He switched moods again.

"Okay. That's a promise." Gumi said much to Gakupo's look of pure dislike.

"Thanks a bunch, miss Gummy!" Kaito said shacking the poor girl's hand that time.

"It's G-Gumi..." she told him getting why Yuma looked uncomfortable before.

Gumi then waved goodbye to the Hatter. Yuma took a deep breath while Gakupo danced around in happiness.

"Take good care of yourselves!" Kaito said making Gumi grin and walk away with the others.

"If you see a man in a grey clown outfit, don't listen to him!" Those were the last words the three heard before the completely vanished from the Hatter's sight.

"I'd die to know if one of the great ancient Samurai would even spend a minute with that guy!" Gakupo started after they all were far enough from Kaito the Hatter.

"I'm sure the Samurai wouldn't mind," Gumi said with a bored look. "You're just too much of an impatient guy."

"Impatient?" Gakupo yelled offended. "You saw that idiot for yourself! He can barely stand still on his two feet!"

"He's called the MAD hatter, Gack." Yuma said defending the absent Kaito.

Gakupo looked shocked as he didn't expect Yuma to speak. "I-I know that! Still, I thought that I was going to meet a guy that hits his head nonstop on trees, not an annoying man!"

"You sure have an odd definition of mad people, Gakupo." Yuma told himself out loud.

"You can't blame me! I've never saw anything like that guy before. Speaking frankly, when he said that he got the title Hatter out of nowhere, I hoped that 'Mad' came with that as well. Too bad I was wrong." The long haired guy spoke and crossed his arms.

"Still, you were a jerk with him, Gack." Gumi said. "You threatened him and scared him for nothing: the guy didn't even try to attack us." She said giving Gakupo and look.

"He was SUSPICIOUS; I don't need to explain myself anymore. Besides, the book said that he used to sing make people lose their minds from before, right? And now you're telling me that he's no danger." Gakupo scoffed at Gumi.

Gumi's face became serious. "Speaking of that..." she said looking at her feet. "You don't think the similarity between the book and this place a coincidence... do you?"

Hearing how Gumi's voice changed, the two guys became serious as well. "What ticked me off more happened when we drank the tea. You tasted it, right?" Yuma asked earning agrees from his friends. "Tell me, did you ever taste something so real in a dream before?"

"Now that you speak about it..." Gakupo didn't know how to complete his sentence.

"You think this is real?" Gumi asked.

"I'm afraid so..." Yuma slowly said. "I know that it sounds crazy but, I can't think of any other logical solution."

"The word 'logical' doesn't seem like the right word for me..." Gakupo whispered.

The three then went silent.

"What do suggest we do?" Gakupo began.

"I have no idea..." even the problem solver Yuma, was helpless in that kind of situation.

"I'm sorry... it's all my fault..."

Hearing how Gumi's voice sounded, the two males immediately looked behind them. "If I didn't bring that book... if I didn't think of that stupid wish..."

"That could've happened to anyone, Gumi." Yuma spoke placing a hand on her shoulder. "You needn't to blame yourself."

"Right. Besides, we were the ones that asked you to tell us about the book, so it's our fault too." Gakupo added placing his hand on her other shoulder.

"But I-"

"Aside from the odd tea party we attended, nothing really bad took place. That's why we'll just take the whole situation as a fun trip and figure out a way to go back home, 'Kay?" The pinked haired gamer reassured Gumi.

"But you heard that Kaito say that the place was dangerou-"

Gakupo shut up when Yuma stepped on one of his feet.

Seeing Gakupo's pained face, Gumi chuckled weakly. "Thank you. I'm fine now. Let's look for a place to stay in case the queen's massager arrives late."

Her idea was the best action to take that time so the guys nodded with no words and went with her to search.

After a couple of hours, the sun began coming down forcing the three friends to camp instead of finding a place to stay.

Yuma was the one who started the fire as he read how to in a book before. The wood was brought by Gakupo who his strong arms helped him in breaking some tree branches. Gumi collected the food which was nothing but mushrooms since it was the only thing eatable in that place.

"How are we supposed to know if they are poisonous or not?" Gakupo asked looking down at the pile of mushrooms while Gumi muttered a quiet sorry.

"I read before that it's best to eat less colorful mushrooms than choosing bright ones; that'll lessen the possibility of us getting poisoned." Yuma explained.

"Thanks, genius. So we have to eat this and this and this..." Gakupo said and split the mushrooms into two groups.

"Let's all eat the same time so we can all die together!" Gumi said making the two guys shiver at her bad joke. "One, two, three-bite!"

The three fell on the ground from the first bite. They didn't die, but the mushroom tasted unbelievably bad that their reaction was to literally fall on the ground.

"This tastes like horse crap!" Gakupo yelled spitting what was in his mouth.

"How do you know how that tastes like..." Yuma whispered as a tear escaped one of his eyes.

"I think he was just comparing... Yu-chan..." Gumi was crying too.

"It doesn't matter! I'm not eating another bite from this thing!" Gakupo yelled as he held back his tears; real men didn't cry after all. "Didn't you find anything else for us to eat, Gumi?!"

"I didn't." Gumi said sounding tired. "But I found maggots under that rock over there. You can try them if you want..."

Gakupo's face twisted. "I will go look for something myself. Wait here." He stated before dashing off.

Half an hour later, the three were sitting around the fire staring at those stinky mushrooms again.

Their stomaches rumbled.

"Now I wish that we stayed with that idiot and tired a bit from his cakes and ice-cream..." Gakupo said in defeat.

"You guys rarely listen to me..." Gumi spoke weakly.

"Guys always wish that they'd listened to girls after they eat shit..." Yuma unlikely used dirty words, but it made Gumi chuckle anyway.

"I think that we should try those maggots after all." Gumi said and looked at Gakupo. Yuma did so too.

"..."

"Samurai don't deal with maggots." Gakupo said with a serious look on his face.

Yuma and Gumi sighed.

Hearing their bellies rumble again, the three closed their eyes and ate those mushrooms. Gakupo had a hard time swallowing back his tears, but the admirable guy still did anyway.

That night ended with all of them sleeping next to each other after washing their mouths with a river nearby.

The next day, they woke up by whispers made by unknown people

Of course, when they opened their eyes and saw that they were still in the mushy-forest, they knew that it was indeed reality.

"Should we wake them up?" A male voice said.

"I think we should respect their privacy and leave them for a bit..." a female suggested.

Looking at the source of voices Yuma and Gumi blinked while Gakupo hugely smiled seeing that the speakers were actually people, not mice.

"Who are you guys?" Yuma carefully asked as he stood up and caught the group of people's attention.

"..." the two men and one woman didn't speak at first. But then a short man appeared from behind them.

The man was mostly dressed in black, had black eyes and black hair. And he was too short for his own good. All of the other ones wore completely black as well. The only thing with color on them was the shape of a green clover on their chests.

"Ehm!" The short man started. "My great queen has sent you strangers an invitation to her castle. She wishes of you to come visit her as soon as possible. Would you like to go now or-"

"Take us to her please!" The three unconsciously said together.

Oh how much they wanted to get away from that ill-omened forest.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading. Please leave a review behind.**

 **See you next week.**


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome to my Green Kingdom!

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own Vocaloid, Sadly.**

 **Enjoy**.

* * *

"Take us to her please!"

The dark-dressed group of people looked at each other. "I-I see that you're indeed in a rush to see the queen... Excellent." The short man said regaining his composure. "Then, we shall head immediately for the castle. This way please,"

Yuma, Gumi and Gakupo followed the short man till they reached something quite... interesting...

It was a large bird, very ostrich like, but was much colorful than one. It looked like a flamingo since it was all pink and had a large beak, but as already said, it looked more like an ostrich since its legs were large and its wings were fluffy.

 _"What is this fluffy thing?"_ Gumi wondered.

 _"I just hope that it doesn't talk."_ Gakupo wished.

 _"Maybe it's a hybrid...?"_ Yuma assumed.

"Please, get on." The short man said using a placed ladder to climb the large bird.

"Wait... how are we supposed to ride this thing...?" Gakupo asked feeling confused.

"Do not fret, my lord. Our vehicles are the best in this land! The lowest rate of accidents you'll ever find!" One of the other men said.

"Vehicle...?" Gumi asked. "This..?"

"Yes my lady. Haven't you saw a flamingo ride before?" The woman spoke with curiosity in her voice.

 _"So it's a flamingo."_ All of the three teenagers thought at the same time.

"If it's safe..." Yuma started. "Then we have nothing to complain about."

Though he said that, he was completely regretting those words as he found out that the bird didn't run, but FLIED. His face was blue since he didn't like heights. Strange enough, he was able to maintain his cool look somehow despite feeling the urge to throw up every now and then.

Gumi saw him like that and so she tried to comfort him from time to time. But I wouldn't say that she didn't hold herself from laughing seeing her poor friend's face. Gumi herself enjoyed the ride, and she liked how the wind touched her face and made her hair flutter. That situation helped her to feel better and forget the huge feeling of guilt she had before.

Gakupo sat at the back. He had an annoyed look on his face as his tall purple locks were dancing madly in the wind: the band he used to tie his hair with flied not so long after all of them took off. Still, he was enjoying the experience a little like Gumi was. And he envied her for having short hair that time.

After a while of flying, the land under them began to change as mushrooms vanished again and instead huge green lands took their place.

In fact, the lands were completely green, which made Gumi uncomfortable a bit. She also wondered why the green color had somehow a bluish shade in it.

She instantly knew the answer as she had one look on the queen. The lands and everything in her country was indeed colored after the color of her hair

"Welcome my sweet friends!" The somehow small-sized queen spoke in a sweet feminine voice. "Welcome to my green kingdom! Please, come inside!"

Staring at the queen, Gumi thought that she was very young to be one. She looked more like a princess with her tall teal twin-tails and her round blue eyes. Her innocent voice and look in her eyes made Gumi understand why she was loved.

It was exactly like it was written in the story.

"Before we get inside, is he alright?" The queen asked, looking worriedly at Yuma who was puking in the corner.

"He's fine. He just had a rough time with flying." Gakupo told the queen. "Yuma, you alright there?"

As a response, Yuma raised a silent thumbs up. Gumi knew that he didn't want to speak since the mushrooms must've came back into his mouth.

"Maids!" The queen called. Two seconds later, a huge group of maids dressed in black arrived. "Please get some water for our guest."

"Right away, your majesty." The maids said in one voice and headed somewhere.

Soon they were back with a huge jar of water. Yuma took one glass and drank it up. Then he took a deep breath and nodded to Gumi.

"I think that he's feeling alright now... your majesty..." Gumi said carefully.

"You don't need to be formal with me!" The queen said with a big smile. "Just call me Miku."

Upon hearing the name Miku, Yuma's head lifted up. He was sure that he heard that name before. And the face was similar too...

 _"Could it be...?"_

"Let's head inside. There's a lot of things I want to talk with you about." The green queen Miku said.

Looking at each other, the three friends followed the queen and her maids as she went inside her huge castle. Like everything else, the castle was decorated in different shades of green. Even the roses were the same color as Miku's hair and that made Gumi wonder if they were real or not.

Examining the queen, Gumi noticed how fancy and detailed Miku's clothing were. Her gown was a lighter shade of her hair, decorated with white ribbons and flowers all over. Her neckline was made of fur and her silver cape trailed behind her as she walked. Her crown was another story: it was silver with many rare jewels placed in its well-detailed decorations. Those jewels included Emeralds, Sapphires and teal Diamonds.

Gumi wondered how many hours did it take to make that crown.

"The little queen is beautiful indeed. But she's not my type of girl." Gakupo said out of the blue.

"Me too. I prefer older looking girls." Yuma added.

Gumi gave the two guys a stoned-look. "If so, then stop looking at her already."

Yuma and Gakupo eyed Gumi silently, before beginning to stare at the queen again.

"Here. Place have a seat- What happened to them..?" The queen was about to point to a place for the three to set if she didn't see Yuma and Gakupo's red eyes.

"Nothing. A bird just came and pecked their eyes." Gumi said glaring at the two.

"It was a very cruel female bird..." Gakupo said.

"It was jealous as well..." Yuma added.

That made Gumi turn her head with an annoyed huff. "You brought it on yourselves, idiots."

"..."

"Hehehe..." all blinked when the queen started chuckling. "You really seem like fun people... please, tell me what're your names."

"I'm Gumi."

"And I'm Yuma."

"Kamui Gakupo, a humble Samurai."

Miku blinked. "Samurai...?"

"Don't mind him, his eyes still hurt." Gumi said in a cold tone making a vein appear on Gakupo's head.

The rest was them pulling each other's cheeks.

They then sat on a huge table that had all kinds of food. Of course, having eaten nothing but bad-tasting mushrooms, the three didn't listen to Miku as she spoke and stared at the food like hungry birds instead.

Yuma's face had a longing expression while Gumi and Gakupo took that to another level as they both made a pool of their drools.

The queen could see how hungry they looked so she chuckled before telling them that it was alright to eat.

That alone was enough for the food to disappear off the table, mostly was Gakupo's fault.

"Now that we got our bellies filled, our minds are open at last." The purple haired guy said rubbing his full tummy.

Miku smiled. "I wonder why are you guys this hungry. Didn't you eat anything on the way here?" The queen asked with a worried look.

"We did eat but..."

"We wish that we didn't to be honest..."

Yuma and Gumi spoke then they both sighed. Miku blinked. "Don't tell me! You ate from the pale colored mushrooms?!" She exclaimed. The three sighed again. "How sad! Everyone knows that those mushroom taste really bad! Why didn't anyone tell you?!" Miku said before glaring at her guards.

"W-we just met them after they woke up from sleep, your majesty! We didn't know that they ate from those mushrooms!" One of the men that escorted the teenagers to the castle said.

"Who was the one that delivered the news of their arrival first?" Miku spoke in a firm voice.

Some time of silence passed before three little mice came forward. "I-it was us... y-your majesty..."

Miku looked down on the mice. "Why didn't you warn my guests before you came here?" She asked as she glared at the shivering mice.

"W-we... we..." one of the poor mice stuttered while the other two hid behind it and shivered silently.

"Have them executed!" Miku said out of nowhere, much to Gumi and the two guys' surprise.

With no words, one of the guards placed a cage on the mice before taking them out of the hall they all sat in. No one moved a muscle as the guard walked despite the mice wailing and begging for mercy.

Gumi was speechless. "Wasn't that... a little overboard, Miku?" Gakupo spoke slowly afterwards.

"Don't worry, my humble Samurai. New mice are born in a short time, so three insignificant ones won't really matter." Miku said with a smile that chilled Gumi's full body.

"Still!" Gumi found herself speaking. "You can't kill them because of a stupid reason like that! There must be ano-"

"This is MY country and that's why I'M the one to chose how to punish my people." Miku said in a completely different voice. "Do I make myself clear?"

Much to Gumi's will to reply, she stopped when Yuma silently shook his head. That is why she bit her lips and looked at the ground.

"Now that we got that done..." Miku started sounding normal again. "Let's get to more important matters!" She sounded more cheerful making Gumi think that she, like Kaito, changed moods quickly. "Firstly, when did you arrive here?"

"We just arrived yesterday..." Yuma said slowly.

"So you just came straight to me after you just arrived?! How wonderful! I'm flattered!" Miku said with a huge smile. Gumi felt uneasy.

"We actually met someone on the way before we came here." Yuma pointed out.

"Eh? You met someone? Who?" The queen asked.

"We met Kaito." Gumi said in a low voice.

"Kaito...?" Miku looked purely confused for a second.

"The Hatter." Yuma explained.

"Oh! The Hatter!" Miku exclaimed. "That was his name? I totally forgot!" She said taking out her tongue in a cutesy move. Gumi rolled her eyes. "What did he say to you?" Miku said sounding serious again.

"Don't worry about him, Miku. He just said some stupid stuff before we ran away from him." Gakupo said earning himself a glare from Gumi.

"He can be really off sometimes, I know." Miku politely bad-mouthed the absent Hatter.

"That's a very light word to describ-"

"Queen Miku! Our main goal here other that's seeing you was asking you of a way to get out of here. Do you know of a way? If so, can you please tell us?" Gumi spoke in a bold tone as she interrupted Gakupo.

"Get out?" Miku asked with an innocent look. "Why do you want to get out? This place is beautiful."

The three looked at each other after hearing Miku's response. "Well... we do have our personal lives that we can't abandon so..." Gakupo explained awkwardly.

Miku smiled widely. "Here, you don't need to do anything to be happy! Unlike the other world, you get respected here and get whatever you wanted with no suffer! Do you still want to leave?"

 _"So she did come from our world..."_ Gumi thought.

"Some people don't like simplistic stuff like that, Miku." Gakupo replied with a grin. "As my father's son, I believe that struggling to survive in the cruel world of men is the best!"

Yuma and Gumi locked eyes and both silently wondered how Gakupo could keep his cool after what Miku earlier did. "I see. So you're determined to go back to that world?" Miku asked. "Unfortunately, I myself don't know of a way. But, I know someone who knows."

"Really?!" Gumi and Gakupo yelled.

Miku chuckled. "Yes. But he's not here right now. I'm sure that he'll come back soon. If you want, you can stay here until he comes. I'll prepare a room for you."

"Thank you, queen Miku, but I think that we'll camp in the woods again." Yuma refused politely.

"You don't have to do that. Rooms in this castle are very royal-like and comfortable. I'm sure that you'll enjoy them more than the forest's grounds." Miku offered one more time.

"We don't want to be a burden to you, queen Miku. So we just want to-"

"Please." Miku spoke silencing Gumi. "You won't be a burden." The green queen said and smiled that smile again. "Stay here..." she paused a little. "I insist."

Both Yuma and Gumi got the chills while Gakupo was oblivious to Miku's bad vibes.

Miku then came down from her throne and suggested that all should go in a walk around in her castle. "Before we do that, queen-"

"Just call me Miku." The teal-haired girl asked Yuma with a smile.

"Okay... Miku..." Yuma took his time to say his next sentence, it was like he was thinking of something. "Two years ago, a girl that looked like you appeared in the news as a missing person. She happened to have your first name as well. Are you two the same person?" Yuma asked, making Gakupo and Gumi stand there stunned.

"Now... who knows..." Miku said mysteriously. "I could be her. If so, what would you do?" She asked with a wide grin.

That grin scared Gumi a lot, so she looked away. "You said that you loved this place." Yuma said taking on a defensive mode.

Miku face returned to normal. "Yes. I really do. That's why I don't like it when people speak about the other world." She admitted then looked forward. "Now, shall we go?"

Eventually, the three ended up staying in the castle after they walked with queen Miku as she showed them around.

At night, the three friends sat in one room to discuss things with each other.

"I really don't like that Miku." Gumi admitted looking at her intertwined fingers.

"She is not normal." Yuma agreed.

"Come on guys! You're just making a fuss over her killing some mice! She's just a little girl!" Gakupo defended Miku much to Gumi's dismay.

"A normal little girl wouldn't execute living beings for such a silly reason, Gack." Yuma countered.

"They were talking mice. And she said that they'd be replaced. So why not?"

Gumi always knew that Gakupo wasn't much of a feeler. Still, he really annoyed her that day. "It's not only that. Did you see her face? She looked like a devil in ribbons!" Gumi hissed at Gakupo.

"You just don't like her 'cause she's cuter than you, admit it." Gakupo said with a smirk.

Gumi gritted her teeth. "And you're just defending her BECAUSE she's cute!" She countered.

"Says the one who was defending a stupid mad idiot just because he looked good." Gakupo fired back.

Gumi's cheeks reddened a bit. "I was not! I only felt sorry for the guy since you two were scaring him!"

Despite them quarreling in front of him, the pink-haired Yuma didn't do anything to stop them as he was used to that already.

"At least we got with something from our time with Miku! Unlike those minutes we wasted listening to that stupid hat!" Gakupo said crossing his arms.

"To remind you, he was the one that told us to visit the queen. Besides, it's not like we got anything out of Queen Miku as the man she talked about is nowhere to be seen." Gumi crossed her arms too.

"Do I need to remind you that we didn't need that jerk's help since the queen was going to send after us anyway? Think about it, if what Miku says is true, then it could be our one-way ticket outta here!" Gakupo explained.

"That..." Yuma said finally using his voice. "...I'm not sure of this... but I don't believe that we will get anything from the guy Miku spoke of."

"Meaning...?" Gakupo didn't understand.

"I mean, if we think logically, Miku disappeared two years before in the real world. If we assumed that this world is a real separate world from ours, then Miku, being a normal girl, would want to go home straight after going here. Why then would she want to stay for two years?"

"Maybe she didn't find the guy untill recently?" Gumi suggested.

"Maybe. But I doubt it. I say that since I asked around a bit when we were exploring the castle, seemed like queen Miku knew that guy from a long time. Still, she never returned to her home."

"It doesn't makes sense..." Gumi spoke her thoughts out.

"You know Yuma, sometimes your logical thinking drives me crazy. Let's just be positive and believe that everything will be alright. Deal?" Gakupo said as he rubbed his head making his purple locks flutter.

"Defending her to the end... huh..." Gumi whispered but Gakupo still heard her.

"Cut it out! I told you that she wasn't my type of girl! How do I know that the Hatter wasn't yours?!" Gakupo exploded and pointed a finger towards Gumi.

"H-he's not my type! You know my type well! In fact you know the one I lik-" Gumi stopped herself at the last moment.

Not moving her head, Gumi took a peak at Yuma's face: it was as expressionless as ever, but that time, Gumi thought that she saw something new in his eyes...

Something that she didn't understand...

"The one I like is... apple pies!" Gumi said lamely. "Kaito didn't look like anything near to that!"

Yuma ad Gakupo looked at each other before giving Gumi a pitiful look. "It seems that you're tired. Let's all go to sleep." Yuma suggested.

"Yeah. You sound _really_ tired Gumi. Go get some rest." Gakupo said and tried his best to hide his laugh as he just heard the silliest dodge-sentence in his life.

Gumi honestly wanted to chew Gakupo with her teeth, not only because he was secretly laughing at her, but also because he knew that she liked Yuma, and he pretended like he didn't know!

That night, Gumi couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about Miku. The original book that she read at the library never spoke in detail about the sins Miku committed. Gumi did wonder what kinds of crimes the book was referring to, but all what came to her mind was Miku robbing people from their money and controlling them. She never thought that she actually killed them.

Of course, the mice were at fault. But they didn't deserve execution! It made Gumi think: did Miku pointlessly execute others before? And if so, why wasn't there anyone to stop her?

That was on a side, and the face Miku made from time to time was a completely different topic.

That smile...

It really fitted the devil himself...

So why was a sixteen years old girl smiling like that?

And why did Miku seem more dangerous in real life unlike Kaito who was supposed to be a madman who messed up people's minds?

Drifting deep in her thoughts, Gumi's eyes flashed open when she heard soft rumbling outside her room.

Following her instincts, Gumi pretended like she was in deep sleep to fool the one that sneaked inside her room.

When felt him nearby, Gumi jumped off her bed and kicked the dark figure in the stomach, making it flip backwards from the impact.

Feeling a sharp pain in her arm, Gumi knew that she accidentally had cut herself while attempting to defend herself.

But she didn't stop at that pain. Instead, she hopped down on the attacker and pinned him down.

You may wonder where did Gumi learn such moves. The answer to that sums up in Gumi being a strong member of a Karate club. So she know how to defend herself well and beat her opponents into bloody pulps.

"Who sent you here?! Speak!" Gumi hissed at the guy under her.

Shivering, the short guy's voice made soft cries. "F-forgive me! I didn't want to do this!"

Gumi had heard that voice before. "You-! Why?!" She said beyond shocked. The man she pinned his head to the ground was no one but the short man that invited them to the castle.

"I'm sorry..." the man said in a weak voice. "The queen ordered me... I couldn't refuse..."

He then began sobbing softly. "Miku... ordered you to kill me...?" Gumi said in unbelief.

"I'm sorry..." the short guide said again before breaking into his sobs once more.

Gumi was terrified, but she had no time for that. She needed to act fast.

"Listen," Gumi said getting off from the man and letting his arm go. "Run away."

"R-run away...?" The man repeated, confused.

"Yeah. Are you married?" The short man shook his head. "Good. That makes it easier. You now just need to run away and save your life."

"W-what about you... my lady?"

"I'll figure something out. You go. Don't turn back. Just go." Gumi ordered the guide.

Still shacking, the short man nodded before jumping out of the window and running like a frightened chicken.

Gumi on the other hand headed to Yuma's room first. The pain in her arm was killing her, but she couldn't stop that time.

"Yuma! Yuma! Wake up!" Gumi whispered as she shook the guy who was in deep sleep.

Slowly but surely, Yuma opened his eyes. "Gumi...?" He spoke quietly seeing how sweaty gumi looked. "What's going on..?"

"I don't have time to explain now! We have to get out of here! Fast!"

"What...? Why-"

"Trust me. I'll tell you once we're safe. Let's go get Gakupo."

Gumi's sounded terrified and serious, and that is why Yuma followed her with no more words.

Reaching Gakupo's room, the two sneaked in and tried to wake the sleeping Samurai.

There was no response. Gumi began to feel nervous fearing that something may have happened to her childhood friend. Yuma didn't fret since he was used to Gakupo acting like a snoring-dead-body when he sleeps so he simply punched the guy in the stomach after placing a hand on his mouth.

"Mmf!" Gakupo made a sound after feeling something on his mouth. "Yuma..? Gumi..? Why are you-"

"We have no time! We need to get away from here! Now!"

Gakupo was usually dense in those kind of situations, however, he wasn't too dense to notice that Gumi was different that night. He also heard some rumbling outside his room so he jumped out of the window and followed his two friends as they ran away in the garden.

Gumi's heart was racing. She was also thinking of the fastest way to get out of the castle without climbing its gates. And that's when she had the idea of going to the flamingo stable and borrow one bird from there.

Much to Gumi's luck, the guy that guarded the flamingos was asleep so she and the guys had no problem with getting inside.

Looking around for a bit, Gumi searched before finding the same flamingo that carried them to the castle.

She approached it and tried to touch its head, but as she did that, the bird made a loud sound. Gumi's heart thumped in her chest. Still, she tried again. However, in her second try, she had the idea of kissing the bird on the beak instead of directly touching its head.

Don't ask me why, but that worked. That caused Gumi to giggle as the bird made a sound of approval and rubbed its head on Gumi's cheek.

Seeing that, Gumi used the chance and ripped the green clover that the bird was wearing. "You're free now. Please take us away." She whispered to the bird. The ostrich-like flamingo flapped its wings as if saying yes so the two guys got on first while Gumi grabbed one bird food-bag before following the two.

Flying off, the huge flamingo bypassed the long gates of the castle and went up.

Soon, the three friends were high in the clouds of the black sky.

"Can you explain what was all that, Gumi?" Gakupo did the talking as Yuma was feeling too sick to speak.

"..." Gumi didn't say anything.

"Gumi...?" Yuma managed to say.

"The queen... tried to kill me..."

"..."

"Say what?!" Gakupo yelled after a while of silence.

"Why would she... try to do that...?" Yuma asked slowly.

"I don't know... but that's what the man that guided us yesterday told me." Gumi explained unsure how to make it clear for the confused duo.

"Ha?! What does he have to do with all that?!" Gakupo yelled again.

"Look... I'll tell you the whole story..." Gumi said before she began and told the guys everything.

When finished, Gumi waited for some time before anyone spoke again. "Are you sure that you didn't see that in a dream...?" Gakupo asked with a sick look on his face.

Gumi didn't speak, instead, she tapped Gakupo's shoulder and showed him her injury.

"Gumi!" The two guys looked stunned seeing Gumi's arm bleed. They then tried to reach out for her, which she stopped with a hand gesture.

"Don't move. You'll fall if you try and reach me." She warned them.

"But your hand-!" Yuma sounded surprisingly worried.

"I'll be fine if I tie it up now. Don't worry." She said with a smile. "More importantly, we need now to plan our next move as our stay in Miku's castle wasn't a good idea."

"You sure that man was acting due to Miku's will? He could've been lying, you know." Gakupo pointed out, his mind filled with worried thoughts of Gumi.

"I want to believe that, but he looked honest as he cried and apologized. Besides, I already told you, the girl had a strange look in her eyes. I never like that look." Gumi said, looking at her bleeding arm as she began rolling her uniform ribbon on it.

"I heard sounds when we ran away too..." Yuma did his best to keep up with the conversation. "I think that she was indeed planning something."

Gakupo looked forward and said nothing in defeat. "Whatever Miku's intentions were, I think Gumi did the right thing with getting us out there." Yuma said.

"You mean that if Gumi was... we could've been next...?" Gakupo asked.

"It's a possibility." Yuma told the two. "Whatever it is, I think that we should leave it for the time to decide. I'm sure that we'll eventually find out what was that after some time passes."

Yuma ended the conversion that night. The rest of the flight was silent as the three were too confused and tired to speak.

When they landed on the ground, Gakupo tried to feed the bird while Yuma cleaned Gumi's wound; he read a book about first aid before.

Feeling that they were far enough, the three camped in the woods and slept there.

The next day, they started moving again and took the free and happy flamingo with them.

Once again, they walked and walked, but one could be seen in sight.

That was until they came upon two people. Dressed mostly in yellow, the small figures, who seemed to be a boy and a girl, stood somewhere near a river and tried to catch fish.

"You think we should speak to them..?" Gakupo asked not knowing if he should trust anyone anymore.

"We don't have a better thing to do..." Gumi said with a stiff smile.

"I don't believe that two children will be enough to harm us three." Yuma said as he took some steps forward. "Let's go."

Getting out of their hiding place, the tired friends approached the two-yellows heads in slow steps...

* * *

 **Thank you for reading. Please look forward to the next chapter. Have a good day.**


	5. Chapter 4: The Exploring

**Thanks for anyone who read the last chapter, but please, would you take some time to review my story? That would make me very grateful.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: own nothing.**

* * *

Still affected by the previous night, Yuma, Gumi and Gakupo took slow steps towards the two children, who looked too much like each other.

They were probably twins.

At first, the twins were too busy to even notice them as the girl tried her best to catch the fishes by her hands while the boy took a more clever approach and held a small net in the water.

Too bad for him, his sister's wild splashing was the main reason the boy didn't catch anything with his net.

"Hey, little ones..." Gumi spoke slowly gaining the two's attention.

Locking eyes, the twins blinked before the girl's eyes sparkled. "People! Len! It's people!" The girl said in a happy tone.

"I can see that, Rin..." the boy, or Len, said in a lower tone as he wasn't as amazed as his sister.

"Say say say!" The girl named Rin began speaking as she jumped outside of the water. "Who're you guys?! And how did you come here?! Did you come to explore too?!"

Gumi and Gakupo looked at each other in confusion while Yuma sighed; the little girl was too excited for her own good.

"Stop showering them with questions, Rin." Len said slightly scolding his sister. "You always scare people when you do that. Remember what happen with auntie?"

Hearing what her brother just said, Rin puffed her cheeks. "Auntie is an old woman! Those people are not!" She said and crossed her arms.

The two then began to quarrel on that silly topic.

"Guys. Cut it out." Gumi said separating the two.

Looking at her, the twins didn't say anything as Gumi smiled down at them. "The water's sound here is too strong. How about we go somewhere quiet to chat? Ok?" The green-haired teenager said maintaining her warm smile.

The girl and the boy saw the Gumi wasn't someone suspicious, and so they agreed on coming with her. Gakupo and Yuma didn't involve theirselves because they knew how good Gumi was with children.

"So! From where did you came?! And why are you wearing colorful clothes? And when-" Rin started rambling the moment the five of them sat on the grass.

Placing a hand on his sister's mouth, Len bowed his head a little as if saying sorry. "She's always like that." He explained.

Gumi smiled. "It's okay. I remember that I was as jumpy as her when I was a kid. I don't really mind."

" _We do_." The two guys thought much to Gumi's obliviousness.

"See!" Rin said removing his brother's hand off her lips. "She doesn't care! I knew that she was a good person!" The golden-haired girl grinned.

"Just because she doesn't mind your silliness, it doesn't make her a good person..." Len spoke quietly and carefully eyed the silent guys on the other side.

"Your friends?" He asked looking at Gumi.

"Yes." Gumi replied. "This is Yuma. The one next to him is Gakupo." She paused. "I'm Gumi."

"I'm Rin!" The girl said.

"Len." Continued the boy.

"And as you can see, we're twins." Rin said confirming the three teenagers' theory. "In fact! We're awesome! And we'll become more amazing after we explore this magical land wholly!"

"Explore it?" Yuma asked.

"Yup!" Rin replied with a proud look on her face while Len silently nodded when eyes looked at him.

"Where are your parents?" Gakupo asked the two.

"They're not here." Rin said.

"I think that they stayed back in the real world." Len said.

"Real world?" Yuma pretended to be ignorant.

"The other world. You know, the one that you also came from." Len replied and looked bothered a bit as he explained to Yuma.

"When did you arrive here exactly?" Gumi asked.

"I think that we got here just a few days ago." Rin said.

"It was seven days ago to be exact." Len completed his sister's sentence.

"So you're new too..." Gumi said a little disappointed.

"Too?" Len noted.

That made Gakupo sigh. "The three of us first woke up in this place three days ago."

"Oh." Len briefly said.

"..."

A moment of great silence passed.

"If all of us are new here! Why don't we explore this place together?" Rin suggested out of nowhere.

"Rin, don't be rash... we just met those people..." Len whispered to his sister.

"Me being older than you means that I get to decide what goes around here!" Rin stated. "And I decided that we'll allow Gumi and her friends to accompany us in our epic trip!"

"Being older by a few minutes doesn't makes you smarter!" Len said, loosing some of his cool. "Don't let me remind you who can't sleep without her teddybear till today!"

Rin's face flushed red. "A-and you're scared of sleeping without light! So what's the problem?!"

It was her brother's turn to blush and counter back. Meanwhile, the three teenagers sat in the background and sighed.

"Rin, tell me, on your way here, didn't you meet anyone?" Gumi said tapping Rin's shoulder. "You were too excited to see us so..."

Rin looked at her. "Of course we met others!" She said ignoring her brother. "I was just excited since I knew that Gumi and her two friends came from our world!"

The three looked at each other. "How did you know?" Gakupo asked.

"From your looks." Len replied. "You noticed right? All people here either wear black or white. Humans like us are the only ones that wear other colors."

Gumi's eyes widened. She indeed thought that it was weird for all the people of the green country to wear fully black except for the green clovers that were on their chests. "Do all people dress like that around here?" Gumi wondered.

"As far as we saw, they do." Len spoke.

"But we didn't fully discover wonderland! So we may find other humans just like us!" Rin said a bit loudly. "I can't wait!"

"I see." Gumi whispered with a thoughtful look. "So, who did you meet on your way here?" She repeated and looked to Rin.

"Well... we met the green queen and-"

"The Mad Hatter!"

Len narrowed his eyes making Yuma think that he hated being interrupted. "How were they?" Gumi asked.

"The Hatter was mad alright." Len started. "But he wasn't a bad person."

"He was the one to tell us how know the difference between real humans and people of wonderland first!" Rin added.

That made Gakupo grit his teeth and lean to Yuma. "Why the hell did that scum tell two children useful information and leave us with those stupid mumbling of his?!"

"I have no idea." Yuma said having a slightly annoyed look on his face.

Gakupo wasn't too good with whispering so Gumi heard him. "It's probably because you made him terrified." She scoffed.

"That again-!"

"How was the green queen?" Yuma spoke shutting Gakupo up.

"She was nice, I guess." Len said looking in different directions as his cheeks became slightly red.

"My tusndere of a brother is trying to tell you that she was SUPER NICE!" Rin exploded at the end making the four flinch. "She gave us a HUGE cake and lots of sweets!"

"Again, you can't judge if someone was nice or bad by simple things like that." Len said making Rin grin at him. "W-what?"

"You're just trying to hide that you like queen Miku~" The golden-haired girl said with a mischievous grin.

"I-I don't! S-stop making things up!"

Seeing how Len was frustrated and blushing up to his ears, Gumi chuckled a bit. "Rin, you shouldn't tease your brother like that." She said to the younger girl.

"But it's true!"

"It's not!"

Gumi chuckled again. "Did Kaito say anything else to you?"

For some unknown reason, the twins stopped fighting with each other after hearing that. "Kaito...?" They both said with confused looks on their faces.

Gumi felt nervous a bit. "The Hatter." Yuma helped her again.

"Ah." The duo said.

"I didn't know that was his name." Rin said.

"He didn't tell us, Rin."

Rin nodded as if she recalled. "Did you three meet the green queen?" Len asked breaking the awkward silence.

Hearing the question, Gumi became nervous again. "We didn't meet her." Yuma lied.

"We were about to." Gakupo continued.

"But then we saw you and thought that maybe it was a better idea to come with you then visit the queen later..." Gumi finished unsurely.

"You want to come with us?!" Rin yelled jumping too close to Gumi's face. "Really?!" Gumi nodded with a stiff smile. "Yay! We have more people on the journey!"

"Like I said, Rin... we can't trust those-"

"We're not dangerous." Gakupo spoke with an annoyed voice. "We're just trying to figure out a way to get out of here so we won't get in your way." He explained.

Gakupo's words made a thought cross Gumi's mind. "By the way, how did you two get here?"

The twins loosked at each other. "Well... we're not sure but..." Rin started.

"We just went to sleep one day and then we found ourselves here." Len said getting straight to the point.

 _"Just like us..."_ Gumi thought.

"What was the last thing you did before getting here?" Yuma asked as he thought of a certain possibility.

"We brushed our teeth, changed into our pajamas and-"

"Rin, I don't think he means small details like that." Len told Rin and sighed. "I think he's asking us about big stuff." The boy said looking at Yuma in the eye. "Stuff like our latest play."

"Play...?" Gakupo found himself saying.

"Yeah. It's called: Alice Human Sacrifice."

It was like a hit from a bolt of lighting to the three as they heard the boy's words. "Ah! You mean that?" Rin spoke not noticing how heavy the atmosphere got. "We were preparing for a play by that name! And we played the role of the fourth Alice!"

"We had a role similar to what we do here..." Len said as his tone changed. "A strange coincidence..."

"Right?" Rin was obviously oblivious to what's happening around her. "It's like we got into the play!"

Even Gakupo was nervous at that point. "How did you find such a play? I mean who told you about it?" Yuma always knew to ask the right questions.

"Our manager did. He said that he found an old play that was amazing and called us to get a role." Len answered.

"What about the other roles...?" Gumi slowly asked.

"We don't know about the other roles. We never read them."

"And we never saw the actors."

"We came here before we did."

"I see..." Yuma said a little disappointed while Gumi and Gakupo swallowed.

"I think that's enough chatting for today!" Rin said standing up. "If we want to explore all of wonderland, we must move now!"

The young girl spoke like a commander the she started collecting her things. "Len, place your fishing net in the bag! We have a long journey ahead of us!"

"Don't give me orders." Rin's younger twin hissed. "And don't dash just yet. Did you forget that we stopped here for food?"

Rin flinched as if she forgot. "In that case, let this humble Samurai help." Gakupo's voice was heard as he stood up and lifted up his sleeves. "When it comes to fishing bare handed, I'm an expert." He stated with a proud look.

"Really..?" Gumi and Yuma said with bored eyes making Gakupo glare at them.

"Just watch me and you'll see." He spoke before going back to the river.

As a man of his words, Gakupo came back with three huge fishes and made all jaws drop to the ground. "Where did you learn to fish like that, Gack?" Yuma asked being his first time of knowing his friend's talent.

"My father taught it to me. It was in case I got lost in the jungles one day." Gakupo said placing the fishes on the ground and went to grab some new wood.

 _"Why would YOU get lost in a jungle?"_ Gumi thought while Yuma wondered why didn't Gakupo learn making a fire too.

"You're so strong, Gack-nii! Just like a real Samurai!" Rin said looking the fishes and jumping in place.

Despite those words coming out of a young girl's mouth, it was enough to satisfy Gakupo's ego as he said "Naturally." with a wide smirk.

Rin's eyes sparkled while the other three rolled their eyes.

They cleaned the fish, grilled it then ate it. When done of that, the five headed towards the unknown using the flamingo that Gumi stole. Len was a little suspicious since he wasn't as dense as his sister, and knew that the bird was actually queen Miku's. However, Gumi did her best with lying and told him that it was a sole bird that they found on their way. Eventually, Len ignored the topic as he liked traveling in air instead of always walking on foot.

Rin's opinion about the change... well... I think that you guessed how it was.

Returning to the traveling group, who spent three days with each other and looked for new faces and countries while they did so. Appeared that in wonderland, only two countries existed: the country of green and the country of white.

Miku ruled the green country while the white one had no king or queen as the previous ruler passed out some time ago.

That made Gumi wonder if the role of the white ruler was open for some new human sacrifice. Not to add that there were other empty roles like the March Hare, the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar.

People in the white country were completely white from head to toe. Unlike the green country's people, they had no symbol on their chests.

Sad enough, despite continuos three days of traveling, the five didn't meet any new face that came from the human world.

"I always wondered, Rin, Len..." Gumi said as all of the five formed a circle around the fire they made. "Being here alone... doesn't make you scared?"

The twins looked at her. "It may be a little scary but..." Rin started. "But we'll be fine! We're tough after all!"

"Besides, as long as we complete that task, we can always return home..." Len said in a lower tone.

"Complete what?" Gakupo quickly asked.

"This." Len spoke before pulling out a large piece of paper from his bag.

"A map?" Yuma said looking at the strange drawing.

"Yup! If we complete drawing a full map of wonderland, then the man in grey will help us to go home!" Rin said excitedly.

"You can go home? Really?" Gumi was surprised. "Who' s the man in grey?"

"We don't know his name, but he seems to know how to use magic." Len explained. "He promised to help us return if we draw a full map of these lands."

"It's like we became real adventurers!" Rin yelled. "That's why we're determined to explore all of wonderland! Then, we'll return to mom and dad and show them that we're not kids anymore!"

"That man..." Gakupo spoke. "Where can we find him?"

The golden-haired duo eyed each other. "We don't know where is he now since he was a traveler just like us." Len admitted.

That made Gumi and the two guys look down depressed. "Don't look so sad! If he's a traveler, then we're bond to meet someday!" Rin tried to cheer the three up. "Be positive!"

Gumi smiled. "We'll keep that in mind, thanks."

Rin grinned back. "Did that man dress in any colors other than grey?" Yuma asked Len.

"No... and his hair was hidden so we don't know what color it was."

Yuma closed his eyes. "I see. How did he look like?"

"Why would you want to know that?" Len asked narrowing his eyes.

"Because unlike you little ones, we need to get back fast. So knowing how the guy that helped you look will make us feel better." Gakupo said in a rough tone. He seemed to hate how Len suspects every single thing that they say.

"In that case!" Rin said. "He looked like a clown!"

"A clown?" Yuma blinked.

"Yeah. He hand weird make-up and a pointed hood. You'll know him right away if you see him." Len added.

"So he's a clown traveler?" Yuma tried to confirm.

"Something like that." Len replied.

As Yuma and the twins were having that conversation, Gumi wondered where did she hear about a grey clown before.

Yuma then opened his mouth to say something else but he stopped as he heard a loud yawn beside him. "What?" The culprit, Gakupo said. "Don't you all feel sleepy as well?"

Gumi found herself yawning as well. "You're right... we should go to sleep."

"But I don't want to sleep just yet!" Rin whined.

"We have to sleep, Rin. Or we won't feel well tomorrow. You don't want to sleep and miss it all like you did today now do you?" The younger twin Len advised his older sister.

Rin pouted before going to lay next to Gumi's Flamingo. Len sighed and went after her. Gakupo and Yuma preferred to sleep sitting near the fire while Gumi went and sat between the two twins.

It was the fifth day of their journey, still, no clues of going back to the real world.

Rin and Len finally got separated from the three as they volunteered to collect "colored" mushrooms for lunch. Yes, colored mushrooms were the best to eat in wonderland instead of the crap-tasted pale ones.

Just a proof that not all of the things that applied on the real world applies on wonderland as well.

For Gumi and Gakupo, they finally had some quite time without the twins endless fights. For Yuma, it was a golden chance to discuss some important matters with his friends in private.

"So you're saying that those children went missing two years ago?" Gumi repeated in unbelief.

"Are you sure?" Gakupo asked.

"I am." Yuma said with a confident tone. "I kept track of the news from a young age. And I'm sure that I saw those faces in the missing news once."

"But they told us that they arrived not so one ago." Gumi reminded.

"They're lying." Yuma said making Gumi nervous. "The children that went missing two year ago were definitely them for several reasons. One: they had the same faces. Two: they had the same first names. Three: they were child actors."

That was the needle that broke the back of the horse. "Why would they lie on us though?" Gakupo asked. "What would they gain?"

"I don't know." Yuma admitted. "That's why I think that we should separate ourselves from them soon."

"We can't do that!" Gakupo spoke loudly. "How we're supposed to find the man who helped them then?!"

"We can find him on our own, Gakupo. If he's a traveler, then we can still meet." Gumi reassured the panicking Samurai.

"That reminds me... it was bothering me for a while but..." Yuma placed a hand under his chin. "If that man was a traveler... then why would he ask two random little children to draw a map for him? Wouldn't it be better for him to draw it?"

"Maybe he doesn't know how to draw maps?" Gumi suggested.

"Still... it doesn't make sense to give your task for a child. Len and Rin's map was closer to children scribbles than a real map, in my own opinion." Yuma said explaining his point of view.

"You're right..." Gakupo said convinced. "And they said that the queen didn't try to hurt them. Unlike what she did with us." He pointed out.

"Maybe she only wanted to kill me because I annoyed her?" Gumi thought out aloud making the two guys look at her.

"Don't think like that, Gumi. I'm sure nothing was your fault." Yuma tried to reassure her.

" _Everything's_ my fault..." Gumi spoke in a low voice.

Yuma and Gakupo didn't know what to say.

"AGHH! All of this is so confusing that I want to lose my mind!" Gakupo yelled breaking the silence.

"What you're saying is the truth." Yuma joined in. "Let's now try and write of list questions to arrange our thought." The pink haired guy suggested. "Believe me, it works."

Gumi and Gakupo looked at each other before they brought a a paper and a pen to start writing.

"First of all, who exactly is that Hat-scum?" Gakupo started.

"And why does no one know about him or his disappearance?" Yuma added referring to Kaito never appearing on the news as a missing person.

"Why does queen Miku wish to stay in wonderland?" Gumi wrote down.

"And why did she attack Gumi?"

"Len and Rin, why did they lie on us?"

"And why are they accompanying us in the trip?"

"Who's the grey man?"

"And is he the same guy queen Miku mentioned before?"

"Why is there numbers on both the Hatter's table and the queen's wall?"

Reading that, Gumi and Gakupo looked at Yuma as if asking for an explanation. "When we were with the Hatter, I noticed that he wrote the number 97 on a paper while you two fought each other. The queen too, had a big 59 written on a wall next to her.

"You think those numbers had some special meaning?" Gakupo asked.

"Judging from the huge gap between the two, I doubt that those were dates. So yeah, I think that those numbers may have something behind them."

"You know what's the most important question?" Gumi said butting in. "It's how we get out of here."

Yuma and Gakupo looked at each other. "True..." the purple haired guy said.

"You have anything to add?" Yuma asked and his two friends shook their heads. "Okay. Let's try answering those questions from now on. Each question we answer we cross out."

"Good idea." Gumi said.

"I wish that we'd just have to answer the last question and get out of this place." Gakupo told himself.

The three sighed as they all thought the same thing.

*silence*

"By the way, aren't the twins taking their time?" Gumi pointed out making the two guys look at each other.

"We should go check on them." Gakupo spoke and stood up. Yuma and Gumi did that as well.

And so, the three followed the twins' traces in the woods.

"There they are." Gakupo said as he found them. "What're they doing?"

For some reason, the twins weren't collecting mushrooms, but they were examining the ground instead. "Maybe they're playing around." Yuma said shrugging.

Hearing that, Gakupo sighed. "I'll go call for them. Just a second." The purple-head said before taking some steps.

"Wait!" Gumi whispered making the two guys look at her. "Hide!"

With no more words, Gumi pushed Yuma and Gakupo on the ground. "Gumi! What're you-"

"Don't talk! Listen!" Gumi whispered again and placed a hand on Gakupo's mouth.

Doing as she asked him to, Gakupo focused his senses and tried to listen carefully to his surroundings.

Steps.

They were slow, heavy and random.

It was like they belonged to someone not normal.

"Someone's coming." Yuma said.

"I'm surprised that you heard that, Gumi." Gakupo whispered.

"I didn't hear it." Gumi said making the two look at her. "I just saw that."

Gumi pointed to somewhere making Yuma and Gakupo's eyes follow her finger. "A red... line...?" Gakupo said unsure.

"You remember what Kaito said? He told us to be careful of red grass." Gumi said briefly.

That made Gakupo narrow his eyes. "In that case, then we don't need to-"

"Stay still... Gack." Yuma said making his friend stop. "Look carefully at that trail."

The purple haired Samurai did what Yuma asked of him. That was when he noticed something disturbing. "That color... don't tell me..." he paused. "Blood...?"

From the looks that his friends gave him, Gakupo knew that he was right. "Who's-"

"It's here!"

All stopped talking hearing Gumi's warning.

As they hid carefully in the bushes, they watched a tall woman in red approach the twins who were too busy with their exploring to feel the woman's presence.

Gumi, Yuma and Gakupo held their breaths as the woman lifted up a sword that was in her hand.

It was covered in blood.

As her sword, the woman's face was painted in blood as well.

But you know what was more terrifying that her sword?

It was the twisted smile that appeared on her face... as she brought down the sword on Len's neck...

* * *

 **Cliffhanger, I guess?**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to leave a small review behind.**

 **Look forward for the next chapter. Have a nice day.**


	6. Chapter 5: RED

**Sorry for keeping you waiting, my wifi got cut off -_-**

 **And thanks for the review ^^ , I'm glad someone out there is enjoying this story.**

 **Well, I hope you like this chapter too.**

 **Disclaimer** **: Own Nothing.**

* * *

They couldn't think.

They couldn't blink.

They couldn't even breath as Len's head flopped down with one swing of the woman's sword.

. . . . .

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Rin screamed with the top of her lungs seeing what happened to her brother.

Under the bush, Gumi held herself from doing as Rin as she placed a hand on her mouth to shut herself up.

Tears came down the golden-haired girl as she struggled to get back on her feet. She couldn't. Her feet felt numb and all she could do was staring at the woman's psychopathic face as she eyed her with a crazy look.

"TwEnTy FiVe..." the woman's voice sounded insane as she slowly stepped towards the terrified girl.

Yuma and Gakupo wanted to do something. They wanted to save Rin. But they couldn't even move a muscle; the red-clothed woman looked so monstrous that even the mighty Samurai could do nothing.

Eventually regaining herself, Rin could finally stand on her two feet once more. But after a few seconds of doing that, she fell down again.

Unable to walk, Rin decided that she could try crawling instead of running.

That was a VERY bad idea as the woman in red took a step forward and grabbed the sobbing girl from her golden locks.

"Noooo! Nooo!" Rin wailed as she was dragged back by her hair.

The little girl tried to free herself, but she was too weak compared to the woman in red.

Flipping Rin to face her, the woman in red stared a while at Rin's face: it seemed like every hole in the little girl's face exploded that time as her tears, snot and sweat filled her face.

Eying her with the same maniac expression from before, the red-clothed woman's smile widened before she slashed Rin's eye with her sword.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Rin let out a loud scream as she fell back holding her bleeding eye.

 _"Move! Move! You failure of a Samurai! MOVE!"_

No matter how many times Gakupo tried, he never got to move from his place. His body refused to listen to him, and he HATED himself for that.

Yuma watched the scene, his face wearing a disturbed and slightly terrified expression. Know that Yuma felt extreme emotions that time, since he rarely shows any expression in the first place. He was sweating a lot too. Not to mention that his hands were shaking.

Gumi looked the most troubled one out of the three, as her tears streamed down her face while she held her hands on her mouth to keep herself from screaming. She too, wanted to help Rin.

But she felt too scared to do so.

In fact, even an experienced solider would still feel fear in the presence of the red psychopath.

Back to Rin, who sobbed loudly still holding her bloody long-gone eye.

"You..." the woman in red started speaking. "CRY TOO MUCH!" She suddenly yelled before brutally smashing one of her feet in Rin's shoulder.

"AAAAAaaagh!" Rin screamed again, making Gumi close her eyes while Gakupo and Yuma looked away.

"P-please... please... stop..." Poor Rin begged the woman in red.

It was no use.

In fact, it only made the woman smile more. "Goodbye again... little one." She said before bringing down her sword into Rin's chest.

Letting out a final cry, Rin's chest heaved up and down for moments before completely stopping afterwards.

Rin just died.

Yuma knew that from one look at her blank eyes.

"TWentY SiX..." the female criminal spoke as she lifted up her foot from Rin's dead body.

And with no warning, the woman in red began laughing madly.

The three teenagers have never heard anything like that before, and they never wanted to hear it again as it sent shivers across their spines with every second passed.

Suddenly... the woman stopped. "Ooh how many times did I kill those two already..?" She spoke to herself. "Don't they learn? Why do they keep coming back?" She asked herself making Yuma confused.

 _"What does she mean? She killed Len and Rin before? How is that even possible?"_ The pink haired guy asked himself as he was focused unlike his two other friends.

"I hope that I could kill new faces soon..." the red psychopath said. "MaYbE tHat PoOr BluE..." she said changing her tone and that crazy smile appeared on her face one more time. "oR thAt ShiTty QueEn.."

 _"No..."_ Gumi thought in her head as she imagined that woman killing those two she just mentioned.

"I just wish that I can get out of here someday..." the woman in red continued. "But if I get out... then they'll catch me..."

Taking her sword out of Rin's chest, the woman in red whispered one more thing to herself before vanishing in the woods. "If those new three are stupid enough to come here..." she began. "TheN I wOulD TaKe PleAsUre iN kilLinG EacH OnE oF tHem..."

Followed by a red path, the woman in red vanished into the woods.

Yuma, Gumi and Gakupo held their breaths for some time before they finally opened their closed mouths.

Carefully and slowly, the three got out of the bushes and headed towards the deformed body of Len and the bleeding lifeless Rin. "Len... Rin... I'm so sorry..." Gumi whispered with a cracking voice as she sobbed near the twins.

"Damn it... just... goddamnit..." it wasn't usual for the humble Samurai to curse, but he did that time since he felt extremely angered at the fate of the twins and himself.

Shedding one tear, Yuma silently stood there and looked at Rin and Len; he had no words to say.

For a while, Gumi just sat there and held the twins hands sobbing. That resulted in Gakupo eventually placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking his head. "We've got to go, Gumi." He said in a pained voice.

"B-but... Len and Rin are-"

"They're dead, Gumi." Yuma spoke for the first time. "We have to leave now or we may end up like them."

Understanding the situation, Gumi rubbed away her tears and tried to stand up. To her luck, she succeeded. So she turned and followed the guys to go back to their flamingo and fly away from that hell.

Suddenly, the three heard a voice. That made them look back.

Nothing could describe the surprise and confusion the three felt that time as they saw a huge clock appearing near the twins bodies. Enveloped by massive amount of light, the clocks hands began turning backwards in an insane speed.

Then the unexpected happened: along with the moving clock-hands, moved another things. Those things were Len and Rin's bodies as they floated upwards with some strange power. Blood then started coming to their bodies. Rin's scars healed. Even Len's head reattached itself.

Flesh of Len's head and neck merged together and connected with each other again. The operation was so detailed that they could see veins reaching up to their other ends. On Rin's side, her not-before-seen eye was now visible. So they could see that the woman's slash ripped the skin of her eye away; leaving Rin with a shocked and bloody open eye. That too, got healed as skin began to reappear and blood came back to fill the wound.

The scar from the woman's stab and stomp healed as well, but those didn't look as clear as the other scars because they were mostly covered in clothes.

Not to mention that ripped clothing stitched up too.

And with being dead, Len and Rin's bodies were floating up in a distorted way: they looked like dolls hanging from invisible thin threads.

It was like time was reverted backwards, but in a very disturbing way.

For the three that watched that gruesome scene, it was purely a nightmare; as if they needed more horrors to haunt them.

Gumi was having trouble breathing, Gakupo could no longer watch while Yuma observed the clock that its hands seemed to move endlessly backwards.

However, being the smart guy he was, Yuma could count that the clock moved back to more than seven days.

After a while, the operation of restoring Len and Rin's bodies was complete. That's why their bodies slowly went back to the ground while the enormous clock gradually vanished.

Seconds later, the bodies moved.

"Ugh..." a voice could be heard from Len's body.

That made the three freeze.

"Ouch ouch ouch..." Rin's body spoke as well.

The twins then both began sitting up slowly, much to the teenagers' horror.

"Where... are we...?" Len asked and looked at his sister.

"I don't... know..." Rin answered.

The twins looked around for a bit before they noticed the terrified three. "Who're you guys..?" Rin asked.

None of Gumi, Yuma or Gakupo spoke at first. But then, Gumi gathered her courage and opened her mouth. "W-we're your friends... Gumi Yuma and Gakupo... don't you remember us...?" She asked them as she tried to smile.

"We never saw you before, how are we supposed to remember you?" Len said with some mockery in his voice.

"Do you know how we got here?" Rin was fast trusting like always. "I remember that we we're camping in the mushroom forest. So how did we end up here?"

Yuma and Gakupo looked at each other. Then, with no warning, they pulled Gumi and ran away.

The green-haired girl was startled at first, but then she got that her friends' idea was logical as it was best to leave things there instead of complicating them.

Like seriously, how was she supposed to explain to them what she saw?

Was it even real?

And was that whole world a bad nightmare in the first place?

She thought while she ran, but she never came to an answer. She also felt guilty for leaving the poor twins behind.

But hearing the red-clothed woman, and assuming that Len and Rin just came back to life, they've must been through that before.

But they couldn't remember. Just like they couldn't remember her or the two guys.

Gakupo's mind was filled with nothing but regret: regret for letting the twins die, regret for leaving them alone there and mostly regret for not being stronger enough to change that miserable fate.

He was so proud of his sword skills and great strength one day.

But there he was, running for his life like a coward; an action that real Samurai would never take.

Oh how he hated himself that day.

Yuma was planning, he was ALWAYS planning. He thought of what to do if they encountered the killer on the way. He thought of how to react if the twins followed them. And he thought of the possible place to go back to after all of that happened.

And to make sure that they reach their destination quickly, Yuma stole the map Len and Rin drew before he hopped on the flamingo with the others and flew away.

He too, didn't want to leave the twins behind. But he had to. That woman knew of their existence after all and she intended to kill them. That was why Yuma decided that it was best to retreat and save the twins later, at least if they meet them away from that cursed forest the woman was trapped inside.

It was dead silent that night around the fire. Each one of the three got enough of that horrifying experience that they didn't even want to eat.

Still, Yuma had to discuss his future plans with Gumi and Gakupo.

That is, if they wanted to survive.

"Look..." the pinked haired guy started. "The queen is dangerous. Being with the twins is more threatening. And that woman is no option. That is why I think that we have to go back to the Hatter."

Being in that tired state, Gakupo didn't say a word of refusal. "I think so too..." Gumi said in a weak voice. "He was the one to warn us about the woman after all..." she recalled. "He saved us..."

"I guess he did..." Gakupo admitted. "I just hope that he stays a goof and doesn't turn on us too..."

Yuma nodded. "I have a feeling that he won't." He said.

"But how are we supposed to get there?" Gumi asked. "We don't know the place."

Yuma found himself smiling. "Don't worry. I got that covered." He said as he went to a bad and pulled the map from inside.

"That's-!"

Gumi and Gakupo were too shocked for their own good. However, they were double shocked when they opened the map.

Nothing was written inside.

"How?!" Gakupo yelled out of the blue. "It's the same paper!"

Yuma looked frustrated. "I-I don't know... it's..."

Gumi was the only one that wasn't showing a reaction; she was too tired to. "I think that its time rewinded."

The guys looked at her. "What...?" Gakupo didn't seem to understand.

Yuma did, so he closed the empty paper with a bitter look on his face. "Didn't you see, Gack? It was a huge clock that restored Len and Rin's bodies to their former state."

"So you're saying that this too...?"

"It's the only logical answer."

"But why? Why would the map get erased?"

"I have no idea." Yuma looked at the ground.

"Maybe the one that used that magic... is trying to get in our way..." Gumi said in a dark voice. Yuma and Gakupo knew that the incident must've affected her a lot.

"Maybe..." Yuma said despite feeling worry for Gumi. "Whatever it is, we now have to find the rose forest on our own."

That made the two look gloomy. "Cheer up." Yuma said in a cool voice. "We have to be strong. Or we won't be getting out of here any time soon."

"Can we even get out of here in the first place..." the two heard Gakupo say.

They never expected that from him, so Gumi took a deep breath before pulling her childhood friend to a corner. "Why would you, of all people, say that? Those aren't words of a mighty Samurai, you know?"

"What Samurai..." Gakupo mumbled. "I can't even call myself a man now... so how can I pretend to be near any of the legendary warriors..?"

Gumi's eyes softened. She knew that her friend's confidence must've taken a huge hit that day. "You don't have to blame yourself, Gakupo. Neither I or Yuma could do a thing as we watched that woman slay the twins. She wasn't _normal_ after all."

Instead of agreeing, Gakupo looked away. "I don't need your pity-talk. Just leave me alone."

"I can't. Not in this state. You need to understand-"

"Understand what?!" Gakupo exploded. "I couldn't protect her! I couldn't even move! I just hid there like a coward!" He yelled, his eyes becoming emotional. "I practiced sword-art my whole life and still-" he paused. "I was too weak..."

Gumi's sympathy eyes became furious at the sight of Gakupo nearly crying. That's why she gathered what was left of her power, and punched the tall guy right in the stomach.

The hit was hardly painful for Gakupo, but it was effective as he took a few steps backwards and then looked at Gumi with shocked eyes. At the background, Yuma's jaw slightly dropped as he didn't expect that from Gumi. "If you're weak, then grow stronger! That's what real men do!" Gumi yelled in anger. "SHE was too much to handle! YOU didn't imagine that you'd have to fight someone like her before! So it wasn't your fault!"

"But-"

"Not buts!" The green-haired girl interrupted him. "You though that if you randomly rush in there without thinking, that would changed anything?!"

Gakupo looked to his side. "You had no weapon! And that woman looked strong as she had enough power to hold a sword like that! How could've you win?!"

"Even without battling her right on, if I pulled Rin, maybe I could've saved her..."

"That wouldn't have changed anything, Gack." Yuma said joining in. "In fact, I feel bad for saying this but, without the twins death, none of us would've know what was going on around." the pink haired guy said. "We could've died as well if that woman saw us. We're really lucky that we're alive here right now."

Gakupo looked to the ground in defeat. Yuma spoke logic, _still..._

"I didn't want you to..." the two guys looked at Gumi as she started to speak once more. "I didn't want you to go barge in there and try to save them... I really wished the you stayed in place... you don't know how happy I was since all of us returned alive here... and yet you're saying..."

Gumi closed her eyes as one tear came down from her left eye. Seeing her, Gakupo moved one of his hands to wipe her tear away, but he couldn't as the girl slapped his hand away and turned her back to him. "Only Gakupo the Samurai is allowed to wipe my tears!" She spoke and tried to fix her cracking voice. "If he's nowhere to be found, then I'll continue crying for eternity!"

The purple haired guy blinked. Then, a soft smile appeared on his face and he walked to face Gumi. He then placed a hand on her cheek and cleaned her face despite the girl's protests. "You..." he started. "You've always been that way." He said making Gumi stop. "Always stubborn and sometimes don't make sense. Still..." he paused a little. "I'm thankful to have you. I always was..."

Gumi smiled getting what Gakupo was implying to. "Besides, if I break now then I'll lose to a short girl like you! This humble Samurai will never allow that to happen!"

"Who's short you-!" Gumi yelled before kicking Gakupo in the leg.

That too, barely had en effect.

What HAD some effect was the hit Yuma delivered, as he punched Gakupo in the stomach out of nowhere.

"Now what was that for?!" Gakupo yelled as he held the spot Yuma hit.

"I don't know. I just wanted to hit you. No clear reason for that." Yuma said and shrugged.

The two looked at each other before they fell into laughter. Yuma too, smiled when he saw them like that.

The mood lifted up, that helped Gumi a lot as she was able to sleep and not have any nightmares that night.

Gakupo took some time to sleep. Despite indirectly telling Gumi that he was okay, Gakupo still thought of his incompetence. He also thought what could he do if he encountered that woman again or anyone like her.

He lastly laughed in his secret as he thought of how jealous Yuma must've been to hit him like that. He found it so hilarious that he teased Yuma about it once that night, and he got another hit as a reply.

After resting for some time, the three friends took off and began searching for the rose forest. Wonderland wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. And what made it harder for them was how similar the forests would look up from the sky.

Traveling on foot was no option, as they barely had the energy and food to do so. Luckily for them, the bird's food was everywhere as his favorite meal was a bunch of those pale-colored mushrooms. Gumi's stomach turned every time she watched her bird eat them.

They spent two days traveling and searching for the Hatter with no results. They found the green queen's castle once, so they thought that if they go around it, they'd find Kaito. But with no one knowledgeable with navigating (Yuma regretted not reading any book about that topic.) it was hard for them to keep track and locate their destination.

"How long is it until we find that Hatter?!" Gakupo yelled as he caught a fish from the river. "I'm tired of all of this searching!"

"Be patience, Gack. I'm sure that we'll find it if we look enough." Yuma said as he took the fish Gakupo caught. " _This is a big one_." He thought looking at it.

"I'm just dying to know where does that guy live! No matter how we looked, there were no houses around the green kingdom!" Gakupo complained.

"You don't think, he lives in the wilderness alone?" Gumi wondered.

"Possible." Yuma shrugged then thought of the Hatter sleeping under his own table and kicking it while snoring.

That would be _very_ like him.

"Guys, if you want, we can go back to queen Miku and ask her to help us." Gumi suggested making the two eye her with strange looks.

"Didn't she try to kill you already?" Gakupo said annoyed. "We can't risk going to her if that happened."

"I know. Still, her castle is visible enough for us. If we assume the man that tried to kill me was lying, then we could still-"

"Gumi. I know that you want to help, but we can't go back in there. I didn't say it before but queen Miku didn't seem to like you. I fear if we go back, she'll try and do something to harm you." Yuma said making Gumi look at the ground.

"I'm sorry. It was just an idea..." Gumi whispered then smiled awkwardly.

"This is funny coming from the girl that told me that I can't be rash a few days ago..." Gumi heard Gakupo whisper so she glared at him.

Seeing her, Gakupo laughed. Gumi wasn't pleased so she turned and went to her flamingo to sleep between its feathers.

Gakupo was left ignored so he sighed before sitting down to get some sleep as well.

Yuma stayed awake since he was on guard that night.

Speaking of the pink haired guy, let me tell you that he felt extremely worried that night.

Something was off.

But he didn't know what it was.

That made him stay sharp as tried to pay attention for every detail in his surroundings.

It was a very tiring night for him.

The next day, the three went into the woods to collect some supplies before taking off. They gathered mushrooms, fruit and herbs in case of injury. When finished, Gumi turned to go back with her two friends.

That was when she heard it.

Steps.

Slow and heavy.

Gumi's heart stopped for a second.

She knew those steps.

That sound was definitely planted in her memory.

It was her.

"Yuma! Gakupo! RUN!" Gumi yelled before allowing her feet to race the wind.

Following her in a hurry, Yuma and Gakupo ran for their lives as the woman in red appeared from nowhere and began chasing them.

"You won't get away~!" The psychopath yelled as she ran after the three.

She was fast, but her sword seemed to slow her down as the three teenagers were able to distance theirselves from her.

Still, the woman in red showed no signs of stopping as she ran after them madly.

That made the pale Yuma think of a way to outsmart her; they couldn't keep running forever. It was his turn to blame himself that day. Why didn't he notice that they came back to the same spot they ran away from before?! How could he been so careless?!

Trying to push those thought off his mind, Yuma focused. "Take the next turn on the left! We'll be able to lose her there!" He yelled loud enough for Gumi and Gakupo to hear but not for the woman in red.

Gumi heard Yuma and did like he said as she tried to stop herself from screaming in fear.

The plan seemed to work as the three could no longer see the woman in red behind them. That's why they drifted one more time and went to where their stuff were.

Hoping that she wouldn't be there, the three teenagers began gathering their belongings before loading them on the flamingo and getting on it.

"Are you alright, Gumi?" Yuma quickly asked to make sure.

"Yeah... what about you Gack?"

The girl didn't hear a response. "Gack...?" She repeated and turned behind her.

Only for her to find that they weren't three anymore.

Gakupo was not there.

"Gack!" She yelled then attempted to go back on the ground.

"Don't!" She heard Yuma say as he held her from the arm.

"Let go of me! Gakupo is-!"

"You can't go back in there!" Yuma was unusually loud. "It's too dangerous!"

"But Gakupo-!"

"He'll be fine! He won't lose to that woman! We'll look for him later!" Yuma yelled trying to pull Gumi back on the flamingo.

"No! She may hurt him! She has a sword! LET GO OF ME!" Gumi struggled with all of her might, gradually getting away from Yuma's grip.

"Gumi! You have to believe in him! We have to-"

"FOunD yUO!" The two froze when they heard the woman's voice.

Taking the chance of Gumi being distracted, Yuma pulled her back on the bird before kicking its side and flying away.

"No! No! Come back! Gakupo! Come back!" Gumi yelled as she slammed her fist on Yuma's back.

Yuma was silent, however, his eye spoke of it all as they were pained and held so much agony in them. He never said anything to reassure Gumi; he knew that wouldn't work with her being in that state: she was yelling and begging him to go and help Gakupo. His back was wet of her tears and hurt him a bit since she kept hitting it, but he endured that.

He endured it for her sake.

After a while of endless yelling, Gumi began to calm down and catch her breath.

She couldn't go back for him, she couldn't help her childhood friend.

He could be there waiting for them and yet they abandoned him.

She wanted to jump off the flamingo and go search for Gakupo, but she couldn't. So she just sat there, her head on Yuma's back, and sobbed softly as they both flew away.

Yuma and Gumi did come back for Gakupo after a day passed.

But they never found him.

No matter how much they looked, there were no trace of the humble Samurai.

It was like he vanished off the land of wonders.

They tried searching from the sky, going into the woods and calling for him (despite how dangerous it was). They even tried to find the woman in red to make sure that their friend was alright.

Still, he couldn't be found.

When searching, the two friends once heard a loud noise that made birds fly into the blue sky. So they followed that noise hoping that they'd find Gakupo breaking wood like he always did.

They wished that they'd see him there and watch him as he smiles widely and come their way.

But they didn't. All what they found was a huge cliff that its bottom could not be seen.

That was when Yuma and Gumi stopped looking for Gakupo, and decided that they'd search for the Hatter instead, stepping on their aching hearts in the process.

Their gave up was after they spent three days in the fruitless search.

On the purple-haired guy's side, let me tell you that he was shocked that day. He was sure that he was behind his two friends. But then, they were nowhere to been seen.

He looked around carefully, in case that woman was hiding somewhere. But he found nothing.

Even that red maniac was nowhere to be found.

After a while, Gakupo was tired of searching. And so, he decided to take a rest in a cave that he found by chance. Lucky for him, the woman in red didn't seem to know about the cave he stayed in since she didn't attack him the two days he spent in it.

He did come out from time to time and search for Yuma and Gumi. But then he'd come back with no results and curse the day that he took that wrong turn.

He thought that they abandoned him and left from time to time, and that made him feel extremely betrayed. But each time that thought crossed his mind, he'd erase it and have hope.

As the third day came, Gakupo grew more doubtful of them ever coming back. That allowed a part of him to go furious, but the other part thought that it was alright for them to do that.

After all, he failed to protect one little girl, so how he was supposed to protect the two of them?

 _"They've must realized that I'd slow them down... and so they decided to leave me here..."_ he thought with a bitter feeling in his heart. _"I won't blame them. Wanting to live is a strong feeling, of course they'd leave me here."_

Gakupo closed his eyes. Someone was behind him. "Finally we meet, crazy woman."

Smiling like she always did, the insane woman in red lifted her sword. "Where're your two friends?" She asked as she approached Gakupo.

"They're not here. Don't try looking for them." He said turning to face her.

Without warning, the woman dashed at Gakupo, trying to slash him with her sword. Gakupo dodged. That made the woman laugh.

"Looks like you won't be easy to kill as the others..." she spoke while taking her sword out of a near tree. "I tHinK tHat I'lL hAve FuN!" She said before attacking Gakupo again.

Gakupo dodged once more. And he kept doing that while making sure that he doesn't fall: the place they were fight at was a huge cliff, that's why.

Eventually, Gakupo could dodge no more as the woman in red began adapting to his moves. That is why the mighty Samurai decided to take her right on. So when the woman's next slash came, Gakupo didn't avoid it, but instead he caught the sword from its blade and pushed the woman backwards.

With his brute strength, the woman in red fell on her back. She barely dodged a punch from Gakupo as she rolled away from his bloody fist.

She felt threatened: the man if front of her was no coward. He was _strong._ She didn't fight an opponent like that in her life.

A wide grin that could rival the Cheshire cat's appeared on the woman's face. She felt so _excited_.

Gakupo on the other side, went on to offense mode as he used his bloody fists to attack the red psychopath. Eventually landing a hit, Gakupo watched as the woman fell backwards from a hit that reached her stomach, dropping her sword in that process. Gakupo used that chance to grab her sword and try to stab her with it.

But then he heard that.

"Gakupo!"

"Where are you!"

The purple-head was frozen. It was Gumi and Yuma.

They were looking for him.

Gakupo was so absorbed in his shock that he didn't notice the woman's smile widen as she lifted herself up and delivered a kick that made Gakupo lose his balance.

Taking her sword quickly, the woman ran in the other direction.

Gakupo gritted his teeth as he knew exactly what she wanted to do.

"As if I'd let you do that!" He yelled then jumped on the woman and dragged her back.

The resulted in both of them falling on the ground.

"Let me go you asshole!" The woman in red yelled as she rolled on the ground while fighting off Gakupo.

"I won't let you harm them! NOT EVER!" Gakupo yelled trying to punch the woman again.

His hands hurt. His ears were full of his friends' voices. He wanted to go back to them. But he couldn't.

He knew that he had to kill that woman before he would do that.

"GeT ofF mE!" The woman in red spoke before kicking Gakupo off her.

Flying in the air, Gakupo still held to part of her dress, which made her get pulled by him.

Gakupo then felt strange.

One look under him made him know why.

They were both falling of the cliff.

Instead of screaming like the woman, Gakupo smiled.

He didn't mind to die that time.

If it was to protect them...

He wouldn't mind.

They never abandoned him.

They just never found each other.

 _"Forgive me... Gumi... Yuma..._ " Gakupo thought closing his eyes. " _For thinking that you two betrayed me... forgive me..."_

...

*THUD*

Those were Gakupo's last thoughts as he reached the ground with the woman in red.

Birds flied of the great impact, catching the attention of two certain people.

But it was too late.

Gakupo could no longer move.

He just laid there slowly waiting for the same shadow of death that took the life of the woman beside him. And before he closed his eyes, Gakupo saw someone in front of him.

It was a man dressed in grey. He had some weird clown makeup that would make anyone shiver in fear.

The smile of that man was gentle, but his eyes were crazed.

"Hehe... you're gonna... help me... or what...?" Gakupo panted with a tired smile.

Hearing that, the strange man's smile grew to be as insane as his eyes were.

"With pleasure..."

* * *

 **As you noticed, I've written Meiko's parts in a way that makes you imagine how she talked like.**

 **What do you think will happen to Gakupo? Please leave a small review to tell me.**

 **Thank you for reading. See you next week.**


	7. Chapter 6: Discovering Truth

**Disclaimer: Own Nothing.**

* * *

Yuma and Gumi spent days in often silence. Not because they were angry at each other. Though they fought from time, and the topic was always Gakupo.

Gumi never thought that it was right for them to leave their friend behind. Despite Yuma telling her so many times that they had to do it, Gumi wasn't convinced. There had to be another way. Leaving him was a bad choice cause they never found him afterwards.

But with Gumi being herself, she couldn't blame it all on Yuma. She also blamed _herself._ After all, SHE was the one who brought that damned book and SHE was the one behind Yuma not turning back to save their friend: she knew that he did that to save her.

And she hated herself for that.

She hated how _weak_ she was.

Eventually, Gumi and Yuma stopped fighting. They knew that being on different sides wouldn't get them anywhere. Besides, they both didn't believe that Gakupo was dead.

He'd never die.

Not that easily.

"The Hatter's place was near the green queen's castle." Yuma spoke in a tired voice. "If we can't find it, then we have to land somewhere near that castle and search on foot for the Hatter's whereabouts."

Yuma's suggested that, but Gumi hardly paid any attention as she watched the sky. "Gumi, I know that you're angry at me..." Yuma said sitting near the silent girl. "But we really have to move forward, or we won't find Gakupo or get out of here."

Gumi didn't speak for a while, she was thinking. "You know, I'm not angry of you. I'm more disappointed of myself."

Yuma gave her a look. "I'm the one that dragged you two here. So I was thinking, wouldn't it be better if I was the one who disappeared?"

The guy was shocked. But he regained himself quickly. "Thoughts like that are the ones that's gonna end us, you know."

"..." Gumi closed her eyes. "You're right." She said bitterly. "I'm sorry. I'll try to be stronger. Let's do what you just said."

Standing up, the apple-haired girl patted her pet on the head before beginning to collect their stuff from the ground. Yuma followed her and helped out a bit. They weren't fighting anymore, but they were hardly talking. Yuma didn't like how things were going, but he endured it.

Again, it was for her sake.

Ten minutes passed before the two got on the giant bird and went to search for queen Miku's castle. As always, the green castle was visible so it took them no time to find it.

Carefully, they landed somewhere hidden between some long grasses. After taking what might they need, Gumi told her flamingo to hide and never appear until they come back.

Purring and making a sound of approval, Firo, flapped its wings before going and hiding between the bushes.

Gumi smiled thinking of how lucky she was to have Firo on her side in those hard times

"Let's go." Yuma briefly said making Gumi silently nod and follow him.

They then began looking around for any signs of the Hatter.

They went into the woods, roses eventually filled the place, so they knew that they were near.

Still, they couldn't find Kaito.

After three hours of continuous searching, the duo began feeling despair. That's why they decided to go back to where Firo was hiding.

Then she saw it. Gumi caught the table of the Hatter by chance as she went to pick a rose before she left.

Without hesitation, Gumi called for Yuma and hopped to where the table was.

It was there, but he wasn't.

The Hatter was missing.

"Come on! After we came all this way!" Gumi spoke reminding Yuma of Gakupo a little.

Smiling a bit to himself, Yuma began looking for any traces of the blue-haired man.

That was when a thought crossed his mind.

Yuma decided to try what he got in mind so he sat on his knees and lifted the edges of the white table mat exposing what was under the table.

And there he was, snoring quietly while mumbling ice-cream in his sleep.

Gumi went down as well. When saw the Hatter, Gumi couldn't help herself but laugh a bit. Yuma too smiled as he didn't really expect his imagination to come true that fast.

"Hey. Wake up. We're back." Gumi said tapping Kaito's shoulder.

"Don't take me into custody! I did nothing!" Gumi jumped backwards as Kaito suddenly got up and yelled that. The poor guy even slammed his head as the table was upside him.

"And who might you be?" Kaito said rolling from under the table. "You don't look like soldiers."

Yuma sighed. It was going to be a long day. "We're not. We came here before."

"You did?" Kaito the Hatter asked and tilted his head. "I don't seem to remember." He said making Yuma and Gumi look at each other. "Don't tell me..." Kaito's tone changed. "You're trying to fool me and steel my precious ice-cream...?"

Seeing how the young man took on a defensive pose, the two sighed. "I'm Gumi. And this is Yuma. We came here before and had tea that time. Remember?" Gumi said carefully as she studied how Kaito's face was.

He really looked like he forgot.

"When you left, did I tell you to come back...?" Kaito asked mysteriously.

The two eyed each other again. "You did." Yuma answered.

For some reason, Kaito left his silly defending pose and instead he gave the two a wide smile. "In that case, wait here a sec!" He said before going somewhere.

Thinking that he ran away, Yuma and Gumi followed him.

What they found that time was amazing, as both friends saw that the Hatter dived in an enormous amount of paper and began looking for something. "This? No. This? No! Maybe this?!"

"Umm... Kaito? What're you looking for?" Gumi asked approaching the huge amount of papers.

"Nothing important!" Kaito yelled as he dived deeper. "Just a small piece of paper! I'll find it right away!"

"Can we help?" Yuma asked as he got closer too.

"NO!" Kaito yelled as his head popped out of somewhere. "That way, you'll find my diary!" He dived again. "Just give me some time please~"

Seeing how he was, the two gave up and prepared theirselves for a long wait. Luckily for them, Kaito's head popped up again. That time, he had a wide smile on his face as he waved a paper in his hand.

"I remember now! You really came here before!" The Hatter said then looked at them. "But... wasn't there another one with you?" He asked blinking. "You know, the purple demon."

Looking at the ground, Gumi and Yuma said nothing. "Well! Seems like you have something to talk about while we all have a nice cup of tea!" The blue-haired man spoke oblivious to how the mood changed. "This way please~"

Sighing one more time, the two followed Kaito as he went hopping to where his table was.

Like before, Kaito then started searching for a full pot to pour tea. Then, when he found one, he emptied its contains on one rose tree and then he began brewing some new tea.

 _"Wouldn't be better if he just used an empty pot instead of all that...?"_ Gumi thought while Yuma face-palmed.

"Now... do tell me of your story..." the Hatter spoke in a serious tone out of a sudden.

Gumi swallowed. "Well... we..."

And she told him what happened so far.

In fact, she spoke of every detail.

And the Hatter surprisingly listened to it all.

"Means that you two got separated of the purple demon?!" That was the first thing Kaito said after Gumi stopped talking.

His sudden bursts never failed to frighten Gumi. "Y-yeah.." she said as she tried to act like nothing happened.

"That's bad! VERY BAD! You should've never done that!" The blue-haired man exclaimed making the two look to the ground. "I warned you not to do that before you went!"

"You did. But you never told us why though." Yuma pointed out.

"I DID tell you!" Kaito exploded and stood up. "It's written right here!" He yelled and shook the paper that he pulled out a while earlier. "I told you that here you die but you don't die but you still DIE!"

Yuma's eyes glowed. "Speaking of that, can you explain to us what you just said?"

When heard that, the pink-head quickly connected what Kaito said to the incident of the twins. So far, he knew that something was wrong with the rules of wonderland, but he didn't know why or what benefit could anyone gain from twisting those rules.

"I don't know but... here... death can't kill... it only resets one's memories..." the Hatter explained while looking everywhere, a gesture he used to show how unsure he is.

"Reset... memories...?" Gumi repeated. _"Is that why Len and Rin didn't remember when they saw us...?"_

"It's like... we're all stuck in an endless loop! I serve tea, but I can never escape! Every time I reach my 99 cup, my time resets!"

Yuma and Gumi were beyond confused. Some pieces of the Hatter's explanation made sense while the others...

They just hoped that he wasn't talking nonsense again.

But then Yuma noticed something, the number the Hatter wrote on the back of that paper was 17. With quick thinking, Yuma reached a possible explanation to why the number lessened.

He just needed to make sure.

"Kaito, is that the number of tea cups you served this far?" Yuma asked making Gumi look at him.

"It is. How did you know?!" Kaito looked stunned.

Yuma didn't answer, but instead, he had a thoughtful look on his face. "Yu-chan...?"

"If it went down..." Yuma whispered to himself. "Doesn't that mean that you died once when weren't here, Kaito?"

"..."

Kaito smiled. "You're really smart. Sometimes _too smart..."_

The Hatter opened his eye, which wasn't smiling at all, but he said nothing more. That made Gumi pissed.

"Can somebody explain to me what are you two talking about?! I can't understand codes!" The green haired girl yelled at the two.

"Before I can explain to you Gumi, Kaito, do all the humans that came here do certain tasks like you?"

"Yes."

"Who asked them to do them?"

"The man in grey."

With that, Yuma was able to finally connect ends. "Gumi, listen. So far we know that Len and Rin got their time rewinded and that's why they came back to life." Gumi nodded. "They didn't remember us. They also told us that they met a man, a man in grey. And he asked them to draw a full map of wonderland so he can help them go back to the real world."

Gumi blinked. "You think that man is..."

"Yeah. I think that he's connected to all of what's happening. Maybe he was even the one that casted that strange magic on Len and Rin."

Gumi thought for a bit before she said her next sentence. "But why would he do it?! That way no one will ever get out of here!"

"I think that's the idea, Gumi. What benefits he could gain from that? I don't know. And it's not only Len and Rin. All of the others has tasks to do before they could get help from that man. For example, Kaito here, serves a certain amount of teacups. If he completes them, then he could get help."

"But he can never do that...?" Gumi asked with a worried look on her face.

"EXACTLY~!" Kaito butted in loudly. "I've been doing this forever and nothing's happening!"

"Kaito, tell me, what tasks does the other two have to do?" Yuma asked referring to Miku and the woman in red.

Kaito looked thoughtful. "Well... queen Miku... I think that she has to pass 100 days without death... which is absolutely impossible~" the Hatter sang the last part. "Meiko on the other hand..."

"Meiko...?" Yuma repeated.

"She's the one dressed in red..." Kaito said having a pained look on his face. "She... I think has to take lives of a 100 people-"

"WHAT?!"

Gumi couldn't contain her surprise while Yuma gulped.

Was that why she was going around and slaying everyone in her path?

The pink haired guy then remembered that Meiko said numbers when she killed Len and Rin.

Those were the numbers of the people she killed that far.

"..." there was some minutes of silence before anyone could speak again.

"That man, how are we supposed to escape him?" Yuma asked being the first one to collect himself.

"You avoid death!" Kaito answered quickly. "If you die, then he gets to get his hands on you! And then you GET TRAPPED HERE FOREVER!"

The tone Kaito used to say the last part was similar to the tone the narrators used in horror movies. That made Gumi shiver for a moment. "But if we can't get that man's help, how are we supposed to get out of here?" Gumi then asked as she noticed.

"That... I don't know..." the Hatter admitted. "I think that you have to find out by yourselves." He said with a look that Yuma didn't understand.

"I believe that you have to go find more answers now!" Kaito said suddenly standing up and breaking one of his teapots in the process. "Take this with you and go. If the worst happened, you may find the purple demon where I tell you."

Taking out a paper from under his hat, Kaito walked on the table to reach where Gumi and Yuma sat then jumped down. He then opened the paper making it clear that it was actually a map. The map was full of drawings instead of writing, so the two wondered if they could understand it. "This is where we are... I think." He said placing his hand on where a cup was drawn. "This is the green queen's castle." He pointed to a green clover. "This is where you should go. Pray that you won't find the purple demon there."

Looking where Kaito pointed, the two eyed each other with confusion as they saw a butterfly on the map.

Deciding that they won't ask anymore questions (they were afraid of what they may hear) the two turned to leave after they thanked the blue-haired man.

"Why..." they stopped hearing Kaito's voice. "Why did you decide to come back to me and ask for help..?" He said as he lowered his head casting a shadow that covered his eyes in the process. "Didn't you fear that I'd attack you like most of the others did..?"

Lifting his head, Yuma could see that Kaito's face wasn't normal anymore. So he stood in front of Gumi and took on a defensive pose.

But for some reason, Gumi placed a hand on Yuma's shoulder and shook her head. She then stopped forwards and stood next to Yuma. "We did that since you were the one that advised us to be careful of Meiko. You also warned us of the grey clown. You explained the situation but we didn't get you and thought that you were crazy. If you weren't trying to help us that time, then what were you trying to do?"

"I was trying to help myself." Kaito said with a serious look on his face. "You see... I was the second one to come here... and I've been here for a very long time. Seeing that you were three, I thought that this time... this time I would have a bigger chance of escaping from this place." He continued while Yuma and Gumi listened. "Forgive me to say this but, I thought that time, if one of you dies, then two will remain and understand what was going on!" The Hatter's playful tone returned as he said that.

Yuma didn't like what Kaito said but Gumi smiled. "But you were still trying to help us." She said approaching the Hatter. "When I was back in the real world, I read that you were a madman that his songs destroyed the minds of many people. That's why I've been suspicious when I first met you. But I then saw how you were the only one that helped us and thought that it may not be true-"

"But it is." Kaito interrupted Gumi. "It's true." Kaito's voice changed again. "I'm a killer. Just like you thought me to be."

"..." Hearing that, the two took some steps backwards.

Then they heard sounds.

It was like steps.

That time, there were hundreds of them.

Turning back, Yuma and Gumi saw that there were a great army coming their way. The army was completely dressed in black and the only thing colorful on their clothes was the green clover that were on their chests.

The two knew what was coming. And they were a 100% sure when they laid eyes on her.

It was Miku the green queen.

"Well well... aren't you my runaway guests..." the girl in twin tails said as she approached the two. "It made me really sad to know that you three ran away, you know." She said with a pout on her face. "Speaking of that, where's the humble Samurai?"

Seeing that she didn't get a answer, queen Miku grinned evilly. "I see... so he's the one that took that role..."

Yuma's heart dropped. "What do you mean-"

"Don't be rash, my dear gamer..." Miku said making Yuma double worried. How did she know that he was a gamer? "We'll all now go to the castle and have a very nice chat there."

The green queen was smiling innocently. But that didn't help the two in any way as both were sweating while feeling her monstrous aura. "Guards, please escorts my guests to my castle and make sure they don't run away again." Miku then turned to the Hatter, who had an empty teapot on his head. "I can see you too, Mr. Hatter."

Muttering a disappointed oh, Kaito removed the teapot before he ran and hid under his table.

The queen sighed. She then pointed to a guard to go get Kaito out. The guard obeyed his queen's order and so he came back dragging Kaito who refused to move and yelled "I don't wanna go!" all the way.

However, he finally closed his mouth when he saw a spear pointed at his face. "Okay. We don't have to use force." He said as a sweat dropped down his face. "I'll walk."

Half an hour passed before the two teenagers and the Hatter arrived at the green queen's castle.

They then were hand-shackled and then pushed to sit on a table full of all kinds of food. The same table that they ate from the last time they were there.

"You must be hungry. Please, help yourselves." Queen Miku said making the three eye her. "Oh I forget, your hands are tied so you can't eat." She said then smiled widely. "I'm afraid that you have to wait for me to allow my guards to unshackle you."

Gumi hated that smile. Queen Miku wasn't normal, she knew.

That made her confirm that the attack last time was real.

"Why did you attack Gumi before?" Yuma asked as if he read Gumi's mind.

That made Miku blink. "Attack? Me? I can never do such a thing!" She said with a hurt expression. "From where would you get that idea?"

"The man you sent to kill me told me. He was afraid. And that's why I believed him." Gumi said that looking right to the queen's eyes.

"Him?" Miku said before her smile returned to her. "I see. That betrayer... _Good thing that I killed him_..."

Gumi's eyes widened. "You killed him?! How could you-!"

The green-haired girl stopped when she felt a spear pointed at her neck. "Of course I would kill him! He attempted to run away! He betrayed his queen! The only punishment for this around here is DEATH!"

Yuma was too focused on Gumi as the spear settled on her neck so he didn't see how devilish the queen's face looked that time.

"But hey... you wanted to know why did I send that piece of trash to kill you that time?" Queen Miku spoke regaining her composure. She then glared at Kaito, who was too busy with the food in front of him: being hand-shackled, Kaito constantly dropped his fork and knife making unbearable sounds.

"What? I'm not supposed to?" The Hatter spoke with his mouth slightly full.

"Take him from here and throw him in a cell. I'll deal with him later." The teal-haired girl spoke to one of her guards with a disgusted look on her face.

Again, the same guard from before dragged Kaito outside ignoring his protests and yells of him not touching the ice-cream yet.

Gumi watched that and prayed in her secret that Kaito stays safe until they meet again.

"Back to our topic." Miku said looking at the frustrated duo. "Why did I try to kill this girl from before?" She asked with a voice full of laughter. "It was because she was cute."

"Huh?" Gumi's face was hilarious. _"What's she saying?"_

"You may think that such a silly reason is not enough to kill someone..." Miku said as she stood up from her throne. She then went down to where Gumi and Yuma sat.

Lastly, she leaned next to Gumi's ear and whispered. "If you stayed alive, people would then look at you and forget me. They may betray me and make you their new queen..." Gumi listened to Miku as her voice became dangerous. The queen then grabbed the girl's hair, much to her disapproval. "In other words... you are a bother..."

Yuma gritted his teeth and tried to stand up as he saw what Miku was doing to Gumi. But as he did that, one guard was alerted and pushed the pink haired guy down again.

Miku then laughed. "I don't advise you to struggle!" She said with an insane look on her face. "After all, the more you struggle, the faster you die!"

Gumi was furious. She before thought that the people of the green kingdom obeyed Miku because she was unbelievably charming. However, after seeing how she acts, she would DIE to know why they still obeyed her.

"Of course... I do want to kill you right away, miss Gumi..." Miku spoke as she went back to her throne. "But I can't do that. I have to let you see him before I would do that."

"Him...?" Yuma asked as he clenched his fists.

"Yes. Apparently, you two caught his eyes. So I will let you speak to him before I execute you both tomorrow, along with that stupid Hatter."

"Why?! He has nothing to do with this!" Gumi found herself yelling.

That made Miku grin widely. She _loved_ how desperate Gumi looked. "He pisses me off." She said carelessly. "Besides, it's his punishment for trying to help you guys behind my back."

"Why you..." even Yuma found himself hateful of Miku as she said that.

Miku grin became wider. "Now then! Let's take you to the joker now shall we?" She said before pointing to two of her guards to go take the two away.

The guards moved and dragged Yuma and Gumi with them.

And before they leave, the two could see queen Miku smiling and waving innocently at them.

The girl was a devil in disguise.

Enveloped in nervousness and fear, the two walked between the two guards for a bit before they reached a room with a huge door. The door had a joker engraved on it, one just like you would find on play-cards.

As they were too busy with staring at the door, the two jumped as the door opened making a huge sound in the process.

Inside, there was a chair which had a single man sitting on. That man dressed funny as he hand long boots, each one a different length from the other. He had baggy pants and wore a long hood that covered most of his face. Still, it was clear that he painted his face with something as his skin color was bizarre.

The two then got kicked inside and the guards went out closing the door behind them.

Standing up slowly, Yuma and Gumi tried their best not to fall again as their hands were shackled.

"To think that I finally get to meet you two..." the strange man spoke lifting up his head.

One look at him would tell you that he wasn't someone you could trust.

In fact, for fragile-hearted people, some may even scream at the sight of that face.

"Welcome... my remaining two of the fifth Alice..."

* * *

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	8. Chapter 7: The Joker

**Disclaimer: Own nothing.**

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"Welcome... my remaining two of the fifth Alice..."

The way he spoke, the look he gave them, his face and expression, EVERYTHING made the two uncomfortable.

While Gumi focused on the man, Yuma was more focused on the word "remaining"

Oh how he wished that the man in front of him had used the wrong word.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so afraid? I'm not going to harm you." The man said smiling widely. "Could it be... you know what I'm up to?"

"Just the most of it." Gumi said as she glared at the man much to Yuma's surprise; he never saw his friend look that aggressive.

"I see..." the man mumbled. "That Hatter... I shouldn't have kept him alive..." he paused. "But I need my world to be complete. So I can't kill him yet." His expression then changed. " _At least not until I bring another one to replace him..."_

"Why are you doing this?!" Gumi exploded. "Why are you lying on everyone?! What do you want from keeping them here?!"

The man in grey smiled. "Firstly, aren't you going to ask of my name?"

"We don't need it." Yuma said as he too glared at the man.

Instead of frowning, the man in grey chuckled. "Such hate..." he said with a wide grin. "Still, I will tell you two my name... in case you needed to remember the one you lost to..."

Seemed like insane smiles were common in wonderland. "I don't have a specific name, but they call me the _Joker._ And the reason is... I guess it's obvious isn't it?"

"Get to the point. Why are you fooling everyone?" Gumi spoke as she glared daggers at the man called the Joker.

"I'm not fooling them." The Joker said with a laugh. "I indeed, can warp anyone out of here. I'm this world _creator_ after all..."

"Stop lying!" Gumi yelled, making the man laugh more.

"I'm not lying. It's the true truth." The Joker said despite the two not showing any signs of belief. "With my powers to control time, I made a time where the story of Alice takes place. That is the place where we exists right here, right now."

"You have powers to control time...? Then you-"

"Yes, my dear Alice, I'm the one who rewinds each one's time when they die. If only you know how tiring that is..." the man in grey said answering Gumi's question before she could even complete it.

"Still, why? Why would you go for such lengths to keep those five here? What's your goal?" Yuma asked trying to control his anger; the man in front of him irritated him a lot.

"Well... that's confidential for now... at least not until you pass my little test that I prepared for you..."

"Test? What test?" Gumi hissed.

"Don't worry, it's pretty simple. All you have to do to pass is escape from here or avoid being killed tomorrow."

Hearing that, the two looked at each other. "That Hatter must've told you, that I can't control one until he or she _dies..._ " the grey Joker said crossing his legs. "Let me inform you that what he told you is true, as I, sadly, can't put one under my control until before the last moments before one's end."

"Why's that?" Yuma asked.

The grey Joker smiled showing that he has a bit of fangs in the process. "I'll leave that for you to find, but I'll give you a clue: it's related to my time rewinding ability as the one desires it that time."

Yuma didn't fully understand. "Now, it is time for me to put on you on test. Pass, and I'll make a bet with you. Fail, and you be under my control for entirety." The man in grey then rang a bell beside him. "Good luck."

"Wait-" again, before Gumi could ever finish her sentence, she was interrupted as two guards got into the room and dragged her and her friend out of the grey Joker's room.

They then were taken downstairs to where the castle cells were.

Opening up a cell, the guards pushed the two teenagers in mercilessly before slamming the door on them and locking it up.

"Now what?" Gumi asked still pissed off from earlier.

"I don't know. Let's just... let's just try to find an exit for now." Yuma wasn't sure; he was too busy thinking why would that Joker only control people after their death.

"Yaho! Anyone there?" Gumi and Yuma heard a familiar voice from another cell so they went to the door and tried to look around.

"Kaito?" Gumi took a guess.

"Bingo!" The voice which belonged to the Hatter spoke, making the two search for the source. "Over here!"

They then looked and saw that Kaito was locked up in another cell not so far of them. He waved for them, with a cup in his hand, for some unknown reason. "I so glad that you got locked in here too! Thought that I will stay alone here like I always did!"

"You know Kaito, that's not the right thing to say now. We're going to get executed by tomorrow if we don't find a way to get out of here."

Kaito blinked before he understood his fault. "So sorry! How can I help you get out of there?!"

"For starters, did you ever escape from here before?" Gumi asked.

"No! I always sat here and waited for the queen to kick me out after she's done punishing me!"

"That's not a good start." Gumi whispered and looked at the ground. Yuma, on the other hand, didn't speak as he was suspicious of Kaito.

After all, the Hatter himself confessed that he killed someone before. That's why Yuma was having trouble trusting him again, even if he helped them before.

"How many times did queen Miku lock you down here?" Gumi started asking again.

"Many times!" Kaito yelled ignoring that fact that there weren't much meters between them. Lucky for them, there were no guards to listen to them as Miku seemed confident that they won't be able to escape that time.

"I even tried almost every cell around here! But I didn't find any secret exists! The windows also don't work!"

That got Gumi's hope times down as she bit her lip and looked around her for a possible way out. "That may have been the case but THIS TIME-!" The green-haired girl looked at Kaito as he removed his hat off his head and took something. "I have this~!"

Seeing what he had, Gumi glued her head to the prison bars.

It was a key.

Silently, Yuma and Gumi eyed Kaito with stoned-looks. "Don't look at me like that~! Those fingers of mine are more to just making some good tea~" Kaito said answering on his own as he thought that the two were wondering how did he get that key.

To his obliviousness, they weren't, they were wondering why didn't he say he had a key from the first place.

"Kaito, throw that key carefully." Yuma said as he stretched his hand out of the prison bars.

With a soft throw, Kaito sent the key flying to where the two were.

Except it was still too far.

That made Yuma use his tall legs to get the key while he struggled not to throw one of his shoes right at Kaito's face.

"It's not working..." Gumi said after she took the key from Yuma and tried to unlock her cell with it.

"Wrong key...?" Kaito wondered oblivious to the two' nervousness. "No problem! I got another one!" He said taking one more key from under his hat.

Gumi and Yuma gave him those looks again. "Stop looking at me like that~ you're making me embarrassed~" Kaito said as he blushed a bit making the two know that he DEFINITELY understood something wrongly.

"Just what more does he have under that hat..." Gumi wondered out loud as she tried the second key.

A wide smile appeared on Gumi's face as she heard a click. She then pushed the door and found that it was open. "Yuma! It worked!" She spoke not being able to contain her happiness.

Yuma slightly smiled as a response. "Now all we have to do is get out without being caught."

Walking a bit, Gumi made her way to Kaito's cell and took the key that didn't work to try and open the cell with it.

"I appreciate the thought, miss Gumi, but I think that I'll be staying here today."

Hearing what the Hatter said, Gumi looked shocked. "Why? Don't you want to get out and go with us?"

"I would wish that, but this talented singer right here has something to do! That's why he'll politely decline~"

Like his usual habit, the Hatter sang the last part. However, that didn't help Gumi look any calmer. "But-"

"Leave him be, Gumi. We can't waste anymore time. Queen Miku may come here if we don't hurry." Her close friend Yuma said as he got behind her.

"No! I can't leave him here! She may do-"

"Unlike you my dear friends," Kaito interrupted Gumi. "My life is not precious as I can be reborn many times. That is why it is not important what happens to me." He said all that with a serious look on his face making Gumi realize that she had no chance to change his mind. "Now go."

Closing her eyes a bit, Gumi clenched her fist before she walked away. Yuma followed her and they both left the blue-haired Hatter as he waved to them. "Say hello to the purple demon for me! If you find him!"

They heard them say that, but they never heard him say his other sentence. "I need to stay here, or queen Miku won't find anyone to take her anger on and she might chase you and get in your way..."

"Looks like I am to die again this week..."

Despite the two getting out of their underground cell, their escape only began there as they had to go outside and cross the castle gates without being noticed by those tall and scary guards.

Of course, the two friends moved carefully as they went up the stairs and tip-toed in the hallways.

Strange enough, no one was there to notice them.

In fact, the place was so empty Gumi thought that it was a trap.

A few seconds later, they found out the reason.

Turned out a public execution was held and that is why all were absent to attend that.

When it finished, the place was filling up with guards again.

To their bad luck, it was too late as Yuma and Gumi got out of one window and ran into the garden.

That left the castle gates as they were too high for them to climb and go unnoticed. They also couldn't steal another bird as it was a huge risk to do that. That's why they hid in one bush and began thinking of a way out.

Oh how Gumi wished that she found a bottle labeled "drink me" somewhere between the grasses. If she did, she'd then gulp it down with no hesitation and see what would happen.

Sadly, there was no bottle. That made Gumi conclude that the grey Joker was a boring man as he left out the fun parts of Alice's story when he created that world.

That is, if he spoke the truth.

"Gumi, look at those bars..." the green-haired girl snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Yuma whisper to her.

"What about them, Yu-chan?" She asked looking at where the gates' bars were.

"Can't we just use the huge gap between them and get out?" Yuma said with a bored look on his face.

Seeing that, Gumi's face turned to stone. She then went between the bars with her friend and they ran away afterward.

They both wondered who's the dumb architect that made those gates as they ran laughing.

Seeing that no one was following them, the two headed to where Firo was hiding.

The poor bird jumped on them after seeing them and made a grieving sound; it was as it thought that his owners have abandoned it.

Rubbing its feathers, Gumi smiled and reassured Firo before she took off with Yuma.

Unlike what they thought at first, the map was surprisingly easy to understand as it showed every road in great detail, using drawings of course.

It was so well made that Yuma wondered why would that man ask the twins to draw another one in the first place.

He then concluded that it had to be a trick that he used to keep the curious twins busy.

Again, the two friends took another surprise as Firo seemed to understand the map and go along with it. That's why it didn't take the two much time to reach the butterfly mark compared to the days they spent looking for where the Hatter was.

"You think this is the place?" Gumi asked as she looked at the map after they both landed.

Catching the sight of a glowing purple butterfly, Yuma nodded. "Let's go." He said before he started walking into the strange woods.

Gumi patted Firo on the head before she followed Yuma.

"Brilliant. I see that you two passed my test."

Yuma and Gumi both froze hearing the voice as it came from behind them.

It was the Grey Joker.

"Don't give me those hateful looks... I came here today to give you a good offer." The man in grey spoke with a great smile on his face, a smile that made the two take guard.

"We don't need to hear anything from you, we have a good idea of your previous lies." Gumi said glaring at the man.

"I may have said something or two still, I'm the one who created this dimension and thus I'm the only one who can help you out of here."

"How can we believe you words? You have no proof that you're the one who controls all of this." Yuma spoke indirectly asking the Grey Joker to do something.

With one of his insane smiles, the Grey Joker lifted a hand. Then, out of nowhere, he caught a butterfly that was flying near him and smashed it with his hand. Despite the disturbed face Gumi gave the Joker, his smile didn't vanish as he opened his hand and showed the dead butterfly in his palm.

A clock then appeared near the butterfly. And as before, the clock's hands moved backwards as if restoring the butterfly's time. Only they moved a little bit that time before the butterfly healed and flew away.

"Was that enough to convince you?" The Grey Joker said. "Or you want me to kill one of you and give you more proof?"

Seeing how serious he looked, the two backed a few steps. "We believe you." Yuma said calmly. "But we still can't trust you. You tricked everyone else. So why not trick us too?"

"Why...?" The man in grey asked before an mind-shattering smile appeared on his lips. "It's because you two are special..."

"Special...?" Gunk found herself saying.

"Indeed. Except for that annoying man, no one has ever posed a threat to me. Seeing how you two are taking that to another level, I decided that I want to play a game with you two."

Both Yuma and Gumi didn't say anything and waited for the Grey Joker to continue. "The rules are simple. And if you win the game, I free you and all of the others here. If you lose, you die and then... you pretty much know what'll happen afterwards."

"Look, we know that you gave all the others ridiculous tasks and told them to complete them and then they get help. If you try and do the same to us I'll-"

"Patience, my little Alice." The Grey Joker stopped Gumi from speaking once again. "If you notice, this time, our little game will start while you're still alive, and end when you die."

That made Yuma's eyes widen. _"So they gave them their tasks after they died and he took control of them...?"_ The pink haired guy thought. _"No wonder they can't do them then."_

"I see that you understood what I mean." The man said making Yuma glare at him. "That being said, of course, after you lose my game you too will end up in the same position as them and get to do stupid things to get out. Of course, that's not going to happen." Gumi's bit her lip as she heard that. "So, the game is simple. I control those who die after their death for one reason: I bring them to life. As long as I do that, they'll keep forgetting and stay here doing what I told them to do." The man in grey spoke explaining more parts of the truth. "Your mission is to stop the all of the previous "Alice"s from doing what I told them and convince them that I'm a fraud. That way, they'll break free from my will and they'll be able to get out of my dream."

"We have to do... just that..?" Gumi asked thinking that it was too easy compared to what she had in mind.

"No no no. It's not an easy task, my dear Alice. At least not with them trying to kill you..." the Joker said reading Gumi's mind.

Gumi gulped. She forgot about that. "That's why I told you that our game ends when the two of you die."

"But that's... unfair... it's really hard!" Gumi yelled realizing. "How are we-"

"Do not fret, my dear Alice. I will give you two some advantages to make the game more fun and fair..." the Grey Joker said making Gumi wonder what he was talking about. "Especially you, miss Gumi..." he paused. "After all... you've been feeling that you're useless lately... weren't you?"

Gumi was shocked. How did he know that? Was he able to read her thoughts or-

"It wouldn't take a genius to figure out your feelings, fifth Alice." The man spoke. "In fact, you being the one that brought the other two here made it easier for me to understand."

Gumi lips trembled. Yuma saw that.

Grabbing Gumi's hand, Yuma made the girl look at him in the eye: the man's words were actually getting to her.

Silently, the pink-haired guy reassured his friend before averting his eyes to the grey Joker one more time. "With that, I decided to make you the new heroine of my world and give you a very special gift..."

Shielding Gumi with his arm, Yuma took a defensive pose and tried to plan out what to do if that man was intending to attack them.

"Again, I tell you that I'm not here to harm you." The grey Joker said smiling widely clearly enjoying how the two looked terrified of him. "My gift is named: Time revisal. And it's a small part of my powers that I'll happily lend it to you."

"What are you saying..." Gumi words didn't sound like a question as she was too confused to use the right tone.

She then were stunned as the grey Joker moved a finger making her body glow for a second.

Gumi then took some steps backwards. That made Yuma hurry next to her and check if she was alright. "As the name says, the power I gave you will make you able to revise the time of a certain person and see it for yourself. To use it, all you have to do is focus your thoughts and slide a finger to the right. Then, magic will happen."

Seemed like the grey Joker was mocking them in the last sentence. But they didn't care as they were too busy trying to understand his words.

"Well then... that was my way of helping you two out. How to use the power I gave you and what to do to win the game... all of that you'll have to find out by yourselves."

"Wait! We still-"

"Good luck."

Gritting her teeth, Gumi found herself getting angry as the grey Joker vanished from in front of them.

"After all that nonsense, he just leaves..." Gumi heard Yuma say. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." She answered making her worried friend look at her. "Now... what're we supposed to do?"

"I don't know." Yuma spoke as he felt puzzled. "First he tells us to pass a test by escaping queen Miku then he tells us that..."

"He's toying with both of us." Gumi hissed and clenched her fists. "That bastard..."

"For now, let's go look for Gack. We'll discuss everything after we find him."

Sighing and nodding, Gumi followed Yuma as he walked into the mysterious forest.

As they got deeper and deeper inside, the glowing purple butterflies grew in numbers. Soon, the filled every corner of the forest making the two walk close to each other so they don't separate.

"Can we try to call for Gakupo? This place is making me feel uneasy." Gumi asked Yuma as she looked nervously at the butterflies.

Why there were so many?

And why they were all purple?

"I too thought of doing that at first, but we can't risk it. After all, we don't want someone like Meiko getting out of those bushes." Yuma answered.

That made Gumi look to the ground. "You're right." She bitterly said. "Think that Gack will be here anyway?"

Yuma closed his eyes. "I wish so. After all, we didn't find him in that other forest no matter how much we looked..."

"Yeah..."

The conversation was obviously awkward. But no one could blame the two. Waking up someday in a strange place then facing death and losing a friend was too much for two normal teenagers to handle. Not to mention that there seemed to be no hope for them to return to reality as the one claiming to having the key is clearly evil.

Gumi felt like it was all her fault. Despite not knowing anything when she grabbed that cursed book, she shouldn't have imagined herself going with her two friends. If she imagined only herself, maybe something would've changed...

Maybe Gack wouldn't be missing...

She tried to be positive and shake those thoughts off her mind. But she was having a hard time doing so.

She also thought that if there were a possibility that the grey Joker's last words before leaving were true.

If he REALLY gave her that power, then what should she do with it?

What benefit could she gain from seeing one's time?

 _"If he only gave me a more useful power..."_ Gumi thought frowning.

Yuma on the other hand, thought of something else as he was trying link all ends together and figure out why that man created that world and imprisoned real humans inside.

He also thought why did that Hatter used that sentence as he told them where to go.

 _"If the worst happened..."_ Yuma thought. What did he mean by worst?

And why did the grey Joker say that they were _remaining_?

Yuma knew what all that would've meant, but he didn't want to believe it.

He could've imagine _that_ happening to him, but not to Gakupo.

After all, Gakupo was strong, and he couldn't be killed that easily.

Sadly, after finally being able to calm himself down and think more positively, Yuma saw that...:

In front of the shocked two, sat a guy with tall purple hair, his back was to them so they couldn't see his face. In his hand, he held an huge pipe and smoked from it occasionally. His clothes overall looked similar to what the Hatter wore as they two seemed to come from the same time. Still, the guy's outfit was different as his coat was dark purple and its ends were designed to look like butterfly wings. It was barely seen as the guy's back faded the two but his trousers were black and he wore purple long boots that were neatly in place unlike the Hatter.

Despite all that, the two didn't really pay attention how the guy looked as they were thinking of something else.

While Yuma was too shocked to see that the _worst_ may have already happened, Gumi struggled to say her friend's name out loud; she was scared of what might've happen next.

Still, she said it anyway.

With a nervous heart and one step, Gumi spoke in a low voice: "Gack...?"

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